A Heart's Melody
by BabyMagicPanda
Summary: How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy who'll turn her life around.
1. Prologue

**A Heart's Melody**

**Prologue**

A petite raven-haired girl was standing outside of a big house with her bag on her shoulder staring intently at her _home_. She sighed heavily:

"So it's happening again, huh? We're moving away just like last time…"

She stood there a little longer not wanting to leave the safety of her so called home but she knew this wouldn't last long. This wasn't her house anymore, she was moving yet again and who knew when they were going to return to it, or would they ever. The maid that worked for her family had promised to take care of the house. She had begged her father not to sell it because it meant so much to her, she wanted the maid and her family to move in and live there, everything but just not sell the house. She was leaving so many memories behind and she wanted to make sure that no one was going to erase them that the house that she loved so much will be here forever as evidence that everything happened, that it wasn't just another pleasant dream that she was just waking up from.

A voice broke her away from her thoughts:

"Honey, we have to be going now. Come on, everything's ready and we are waiting for you."

The young girl nodded lightly and finally tore her gaze from the place she would no longer return to every day. She looked at her sister but never met her eyes, she kept looking at her hands, legs, clothes:

"Okay. Let's go then."

The older woman smiled a little and started walking to the big black car with her little sister following her behind. As the young girl was about to get into the car she glanced back at the house, sighed again and got in. She put her seat-belt on and waited patiently for the vehicle to start.

"Well here we go! Of to another adventure! Aren't you guys excited?" the older sibling cheered happily.

Her husband who was behind the wheel just nodded and the engine hummed lightly.

"Don't worry sweetie, I'm sure you're gonna love it!" she said to her younger sister.

The girl raised her head and looked out of the window to the trees and the sunlight rays that were trying to find their way through the green leaves. Her dark blue eyes changed a shade of purple whenever those rays light up her face.

"Yeah." that was all she said before she put her headphones in her ears and let the familiar melody of one her favorite ballads fill her senses.

"_Kimi wo suki ni natte dore kurai tatsu no kana?  
Kimochi fukurande yuku bakari de  
Kimi wa kono omoi kidzuite iru no kana?  
Ichido mo kotoba ni wa shite'nai kedo_

_Yuki no you ni tada shizuka ni  
Furitsumori tsudzukete yuku_

_Hold me tight konna omoi nara  
Dareka wo suki ni naru kimochi  
Shiritakunakatta yo  
I love you namida tomaranai  
Konna n ja kimi no koto  
Shirazu ni ireba yokatta yo"_

And so the journey that would change her life forever started for Rukia Kuchiki.

* * *

**A/N:**First of all I want to say that this is my first attempt to write a fan fiction and I have no idea how it'll turn out. I hope that with this I will be able to express a lot of feelings I don't know how to show and I hope that I can touch people's hearts. I still don't know how this will turn up and if I'll ever get to finish it but I really feel like I have to do this.

So, please, tell me what you think and I want to apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes, it's really late and tou-sama made me do so many things today… *yawn* plus I'm not English so I'm not that good with the language. Now I'll stop blabbing and finally post this and then get into bed 'cause my back is starting to hurt and I really want to get some sleep before the sun rises. XD


	2. Meeting in the Moonlight

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**First Chapter: ****Meeting in the Moonlight**

It was late and dark and they were still driving. Rukia hadn't taken her headphones even one except when they made stops to eat or rest a little. She was thankful that her battery hadn't died or else she would probably have to listen to her sister reassuring her that she's going to love the new place they were going to live in. Her sister, Hisana, was more like a mother to Rukia than a sister. Maybe it was from the big age difference they had or just because Hisana was like that but if you saw them for the first time you certainly wouldn't think of them for sisters. Rukia was truly grateful to her sister for everything she did and all the help she was so she was really happy when Hisana met her husband. Byakuya Kuchiki was from the famous Kuchiki clan, one of the most wealthiest and powerful families in Japan.

At first Hisana couldn't believe that he could be interested in her but soon she started spending more and more time with him and slowly but surely they fell in love. It was just like in one of those teenage dramas on the TV but Rukia was happy. Her sister had to take care of everything before that since they didn't have any parents. No one knew what happened to them, they just disappeared and Hisana took care of Rukia after that. That's why she was like a mother to her and the young girl was happy with just having her onee-chan there with her. She didn't need no parents, she had the most important person in her life there with her. Hisana was her sister, mother and best friend. She could tell her anything and she would always be there to listen and help her.

After the wedding adopted Rukia so she could really be part of the family because the elders from the Kuchiki clan didn't want an outsider to live in their house. So Rukia became Byakuya's younger sister. But they never were that close. He was capable of only showing the slightest affection to his wife and that was all. Byakuya was a cold man, he showed no emotion, he never smiled, never looked happy or sad, his face was serious all the time. The only time he looked a little happy was the day of his wedding with Hisana.

Rukia felt her eye lids getting heavy but she continued gazing at the stars in the clear night sky.

"_It would really be good, if I could reach them one day." _that was the last thing she thought of before she fell in a deep slumber.

"_Falling in love, saying goodbye_

_With a vow that this is the last heartbreak_

_Even the cherry tree, swaying in the wind_

_Will eventually blossom_

_The summer rain that started to fall_

_gently streaked past my tears_

_Images that resemble memories_

_Autumn's drama reruns_

_Why have I suffered_

_Almost the same blows such countless times?_

_But even so, I'll probably fight again_

_That is one of life__'__s mysteries__."_

"Ah! She fell asleep!" Hisana exclaimed.

"Let her sleep. She probably got tired from today. The ride is long and she needs her rest." Byakuya answered calmly without removing his eyes from the rode.

"Yeah… but she didn't say a word since we left, just short answers… and those head phones and her music… why does she refuse to understand?" her eyes started to fill up with tears and she looked ahead at the road again. "What are we going to do?"

"That's why we're moving away, isn't it? We'll find a solution, she'll be alright." Byakuya wiped the tear that was slowly making it's way down Hisana's face and continued driving.

"I hope we do… I really hope so." his wife bit her lips in order to stop more tears which could start falling down. "I don't want to loose her… I don't think I'm ready!"

# # # # # #

_**At the mean time**_

_**Karakura Town**_

"Karin! Yuzu! You should go to bed!" a tall black haired man told his twin daughters "I told you they would be arriving late, it's a long ride. So why don't my sweet daughters go to bed now?"

"Shut up, dad! We're not tired!" Karin answered.

"Yeah, daddy! We really want to greet them…" a big yawn escaped Yuzu's mouth and her dad chuckled.

"You can see them tomorrow, they're not going anywhere. Now off to bed my lovely daughters!"

"But–" their protest was cut short when Isshin got up from his chair with a big grin on his face.

"Come on, daddy will sing you two a song… or maybe two?"

"OKAY! We're going to bed! Come on Yuzu!" Karin yelled and dragged her sister up the stairs to her room cursing all the way.

Isshin sat down again and rubbed his forehead.

"And where is that idiot son of mine?"

# # # # # #

"We're almost there." Byakuya informed. Hisana was really tired and her eyes kept closing every few minutes but she refused to fall asleep.

"Okay. I can't wait to meet that old friend of yours. I hope he's as good as you say he is or I don't know what else we can do." The woman said while yawning.

"He is. Don't worry." Byakuya's reassuring tone wasn't enough for Hisana to calm down but she decided not to talk anymore. She glanced back at her little sister to find her still asleep with an angelic expression on her face. A sad smile graced the face of the older sibling. What she would give for her sister to be okay. Why did this have to happen to her? She never did anything bad in her life.

"Just a little longer and we'll reach the house. We're already in the town." informed Byakuya and he pointed at the sign on the rode. The words "Karakura" were clearly visible.

Hisana didn't answer. She simply nodded as she looked at the passing sign.

# # # # # #

After about an hour of driving the Kuchiki family arrived in front the Kurosaki's house. Upon hearing a car's engine Isshin jumped out of his seat and went straight for the door. When he opened it he saw the familiar figure of Kuchiki Byakuya getting out of his car and a very beautiful woman with short black hair, getting out of the passenger's seat next to him. He smiled softly and stepped out on the threshold to wait for them.

"Please, don't wake Rukia up. She probably won't be able to go back to sleep if you do." Hisana asked her husband gently.

"Don't worry, I won't." with that said he opened the back door of the car and undid Rukia's seatbelt. He picked her up in his arms careful not to drop her phone in the process. A little sound could be heard from her headphones and Byakuya shook his head. "She'll end up deaf really soon."

"She doesn't think that way though." Hisana laughed lightly while watching her sister sleep in Byakuya's arms.

"Come on, he's waiting for us." Byakuya nodded his head towards Isshin and they quickly walked to the man.

"It's been a while Byakuya." Isshin greeted and got only a light nod as an answer from the head Kuchiki. "And this must be your lovely wife," continued the man "It's a pleasure to meet you Madame." He bowed and kissed her knuckles.

"Same here Kurosaki-san." Hisana smiled at him and bowed in return.

"Oh please, call me Isshin." then he fixed his eyes on Rukia's sleeping form. "So that's the girl you told me about." he asked Byakuya.

"Yes. This is Rukia."

"She's so pretty. Just like her sister!" Isshin had a silly smile on his face. "But enough of that! Come in, come in! You must be tired from the ride. You can leave the little princess in Ichigo's room! That child isn't home yet. You know how teenagers are!" he sad as he went straight for the stairs. "Hisana-san, make yourself comfortable in the living room, I'll just show Byakuya to the room."

"Thank you." she looked at her sister's face and placed a light kiss on her forehead. Luckily that didn't wake Rukia up and Byakuya carried her up the stairs. _"Ichigo… what a cute name. I hope she and Rukia can be friends. Her dad said that she's a teenager so she's around Rukia's age. It'll be good if she can make friends." _Hisana thought as she sat on the couch in the living room. _"What a pretty house. It feels so homey and relaxing."_

Up the stairs Isshin opened a door which led to a dark cozy room. Byakuya couldn't see much but he noted that the room was really tidy and was a good thing to him.

"_At least the girl knows how to clean her room." _he thought. The man knew that Isshin had kids but he never knew their names of genders.

Isshin lifted the bed cover and allowed his guest to lay the young girl down. Byakuya removed Rukia's headphones from her ears, careful not to wake her up, stopped the music and placed her phone on the bed stand next to the bed. He then took the cover from Isshin's hands and put it over his sister's from.

The two men left the room silently and went downstairs to join Hisana.

"Can I offer you something? I know the ride is long. Are you hungry? Thirsty?" Isshin asked.

"No thank you, I'm fine. I'm just a little tired… but first I want to thank you for letting us stay here and agreeing to help us. It really means a lot." Hisana said with a sincere voice.

"You don't have to thank me. It's my pleasure to help." Isshin offered another smile. "But you do look really tired, I'll show you to your room."

"But I thought we were going to talk about Rukia? I don't want to be annoying, I know it's late but I don't really want her to hear this conversation." Hisana objected.

"He's right. You are tired. Go to bed and I will tell him everything. You do not need to worry." Byakuya reassured her and Hisana let out a sigh of defeat.

"Alright." she kissed her husband on the cheek and stood up.

"This way."

Isshin ascended the stairs again and soon they reached another room. He opened the door and Hisana entered.

"You've got a really nice home, Kurosaki-san."

"Thank you, but please call me Isshin." the man smiled at her.

"Oh, sorry about that. By the way would you please ask Byakuya to bring some clothes, they are in the car."

"Of course." Isshin headed for the door and before closing it he wished her good night.

Downstairs Byakuya had already gotten some bags from the car and started going up the stairs.

"Oh good, you wife just asked for your luggage." She's in third room at the end of this corridor just next to where Rukia-chan's sleeping." Kurosaki informed.

Byakuya only nodded and went in the room. After a few minutes he came out and both men went down back to the living room. Sitting on the couch no one said a word for a few minutes. Isshin was the first one to break the silence.

"You've got a nice family."

"I know." was all Byakuya said.

"They really look alike from what I saw." when he got no reply, Isshin continued, "So what's the problem? Your wife really wanted to talk about little Rukia-chan."

"I told you most of it on the phone. We brought all her medical cards and boards with us. I'll get them from the case." Byakuya opened a suitcase which was put on the end of the couch and took out of file after file. In the end Isshin had two big piles of documents on the table in front of him.

"And all that fitted in that case? You sure it's not magical, like those hat the magicians have?" Isshin said.

Byakuya only glared at the man next to him and said nothing.

"Wait a second… these files are for Hisana Kuchiki." Isshin nodded towards one of the piles, "And these are for Rukia…" looking at the other one, "I don't understand. I thought only one of them was sick, that's what you said on the phone!"

"Indeed." Byakuya remained calm. "I was talking only about Rukia. But the truth is that Hisana is also ill. The doctors don't know what exactly is wrong with her. She went through a lot of examinations but none of them gave good enough results. Lately she hasn't had any problems but with all the moving out she is tired and that is bad for her health." his eyes remained focused on the table in front of them, "I would appreciate it if you look at her files as well."

"Of course I will." Isshin nodded instantly "But it is weird… So many tests done and none of them confirmed what's wrong with her…" after a couple of moments of silence he added, "I'll look at both of their documents and you better get some rest. We'll talk tomorrow when I know more about them."

Byakuya only nodded and got up from the couch. He took the rest of the bags and ascended the stairs to go and get some rest.

Isshin was still on the couch and hadn't moved at all. He kept looking at the files and kept thinking how hard it must have been for them. After a few minutes of staring he gathered the documents from the table and went up to his room. Putting the files in two piles on his bed he changed and got under the covers.

"Let's see Rukia-chan's condition, after all, that's what they came here for." he said while opening Rukia's medical file. "Name: Kuchiki Rukia… Birthday: January 14… Gender: Female… Blood Type: A… Diagnosis: … Oh my God… That is not possible…

# # # # # #

Kurosaki Ichigo was going home after a terrible day. Everything had gone wrong. Since the moment he woke and his father attacked him like every morning but this he wasn't fast enough and fell from his bed. School was hell as well. It was as boring as ever and the teachers annoyed him more and more each day. Even Ochi-sensei who was his homeroom teacher for a few years now he couldn't stand.

Many students feared him and didn't dare even looking him in the eyes because of his rebellious behavior. Some even called him a delinquent and made stories up about his hair color. Most of them involved street gangs, fitting, drugs and alcohol. There were even people who said he and _his gang_ we participating in illegal street races. _"Too much computer games…"_ She shrugged everything he heard off. It didn't really matter to him what people thought. That was their problem. They could think he was a vicious criminal who had escaped prison for what he cared. He had a few close friends who knew that all those things were made up and that was enough for him.

He was coming home late that day because he and his friend Chad had to help a little boy who was bullied by some idiot rich kids. The kids refused to leave the boy alone and actually lunged at Ichigo and Chad so they just had to defend themselves. Winning was no problem except the few cuts he got because one of the idiots pulled out a knife at him. He wasn't hurt that badly but there was blood on his face and should where the knife had sliced. He would probably have to come up with some kind of explanation as in from where he got them since he wasn't sure if he's father would believe him.

Ichigo arrived at his house and noticed there was a car parked up in front of it.

"Idiots! Who would park his car in front of a stranger's house?" he cursed silently and walked closer to his home.

All the lights were off. The first floor was in complete darkness as was the second one. His father room was on the other side of the house so he couldn't be sure if he was still awake or not so he decided not to take any chances and started climbing the tree near the house. One of its branches reached the window of his room and he had left it a little open using a neatly folded piece of paper so he could sneak in unnoticed. He was careful while climbing and when he reached the window he pushed it lightly and jumped quietly into his room. It was after midnight and the only light in the room was coming from the moon and its rays entering from the window he just jumped in from.

Ichigo removed his shoes and placed them near his desk. On it were placed his pajama pants and the young boy wondered who would've put them there. He glanced towards his bed and noticed it wasn't made. Sometimes Yuzu made his bed and tried to tidy his room a little but it was strange that she would move his clothes and not fix the bed. He shrugged it off, took his clothes off, put the pajamas on and yawned slightly.

"Let's home tomorrow will be better." he murmured and proceeded to go to bed.

When he reached to pull the cover he stopped dead in his tracks. There was someone sleeping in his bed!

Ichigo didn't know how to react at first but then he bent down and inspected the person who was breathing softly under his covers.

It was a girl. Her dark hair was splattered on his pillow and she was lying on her side so the moonlight was illuminating her face. Her skin was so pale that she looked like a porcelain doll. She was so beautiful sleeping gently in his bed just like an angel. He felt the strange desire to see her open her eyes and look at him.

Ichigo couldn't take his eyes off of her but he flinched a little when he saw her stir in her sleep and turn on her back facing him. He continued staring at her face and unconsciously reached his hand out to touch her cheek. Her skin was so soft and gentle. Ichigo's gaze went to her pink lips which slightly parted the moment he started caressing her face.

Suddenly she her face was set in a little frown and before Ichigo could even withdraw his hand from her cheek, the girls eyes snapped open and she stared directly into Ichigo's brown ones.

Rukia was sleeping calmly on a soft surface just like a cloud. She had no idea where she was but it felt safe, warm and peaceful. She felt so at home that she never wanted to leave. But then she felt something brush softly against her face. It was like someone was caressing her cheek… but who? The movement was gentle and relaxing but her curiosity made her wake up and open her eyes. When she did she was met with a soft gaze. Deep beautiful eyes were looking at her. A boy with bright hair was leaning down upon her, looking at her lips before they went for her eyes. His arm was at her cheek and apparently that was causing the warm feeling.

She didn't move or do anything for a while, just stare deeply into his eyes and he did the same. Suddenly she realized what was happening so she pushed his hand away and rose a little in the bed so she was sitting.

"Who are you?" she asked with a surprised and a little breathless voice.

Ichigo snapped out of his stupor the moment she pushed him away but he couldn't answer her question right away.

"Answer me! You… you… pervert!" Rukia repeated and she pulled the cover of the bed to her chin. "What are you doing here?"

Ichigo's eyes narrowed the second he heard her call him a pervert and he answered "Hey! I'm not pervert! If anyone's a pervert it would be you! What the hell are you doing in my bed?"

"Your… bed?" the girl looked around herself and noticed she was in an unfamiliar room. "What's this place? Why am I here?"

"That's what I want to know too!"

Their voices were louder now and they heard footsteps from the corridor outside the room. They both glanced at the door and in an instant it hung open and entered Isshin Kurosaki in his blue pajamas with little brown bears on them.

"Great! You already met!" he said with a smile on his face and walked closer to them. "Rukia-chan, this is my son Ichigo! Ichigo, this is Rukia Kuchiki!"

* * *

**A/N:**FINALLY! I finished it!

I didn't know how to end the chapter so I decided to stop here or I would probably have made it longer. XD It actually turned out longer than I thought it would but that's what usually happens when I'm in a writing mood, I just can't stop! XD

So I hope you like it and please review, so I'll actually know. ^_^

I also want to thank **AvedlyTres** for being my first reviewer! Thanks a lot! I actually read your fic _"Of Sins and Virtues" _(or mostly read the scenes with Rukia and Ichigo, hehehe *sweatdrop*, I can't really say but what I know is that I love it!) I reread some chapters the other day too and I noticed that you mentioned a few songs from Big Bang! If I actually noticed that before maybe I would have found their music a little earlier. I found about them a few months ago... they're really awesome!

I would also like to thank **Ichigo'sArrancar** for adding the story to your Story Alert subscription!

Anyways, enough blabbering! I hope you like it and if you do, again, review so I'll know! ^_^

16.05 – 30.05.10

SakuraNoKaze


	3. A New Day Begins

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**Second Chapter: A New Day Begins**

A deep silence filled the room as Rukia's eyes moved from the man who was now standing in the room and the boy who was sitting on the bed she was sleeping in a few minutes ago. She kept looking from one to the other. The older man was tall–but for her every person who was taller than her was tall, which was almost everybody, but she wouldn't admit it–with dark hair which was sticking everywhere, dark eyes and a little beard. He would probably look scary in the dark room if it wasn't for his nightwear. His pajama looked like something a five or maybe an eight-year-old would wear but not a grown up man. She glanced at the boy again before returning her eyes to the man and finally saying:

"Who are you? Where am I? And most importantly _why_ am I here?" her eyes narrowed as if she wasn't sleeping just now.

Isshin looked surprised but quickly added:

"Oh, that's right, you were asleep! I'm sorry darling, my name is Kurosaki Isshin. You arrived here with you sister and her husband a little earlier. You were sleeping and they didn't want to wake you up so we put you in my son's room." He looked at the boy and his eyes narrowed a little before facing Rukia again: "As I said, this is Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo… my son… who is late _again_ and is going to be in big trouble… but tomorrow! Our guest is tired and should sleep!" He flashed Rukia a big smile and turned to his son again: "Yuzu prepared the futon for you, now go to sleep and we'll talk tomorrow." He pointed to the futon near the bed no one had noticed and stepped back a little.

It took Ichigo a few seconds to react.

"What the hell is going on here? And why am I supposed to sleep on the floor? Who's this person and why is she in my bed?" he almost yelled at his father.

Isshin stared at the boy before scrunching his face and narrowing his eyes yet again:

"Lower your voice boy, our guests are sleeping! You woke one up but you won't wake up the others! If you don't like the idea sleeping here then you can go down to the living room and sleep on the couch, you choose! Now I suggest you go to sleep but first apologize to little Rukia here!" he nodded towards the girl who was only staring at them both without moving or making any kind of sound.

"Why would I apologize to her? I did nothing wrong!" Ichigo was almost shouting now. "She's the one in my bed!"

"I don't want to hear that!" Isshin hissed at him. "Apologise and go to bed! _Now!_

He turned around and exited the room and closed the door behind him but not too loud in order not to wake the others up.

Ichigo and Rukia started at the door before looking at each other. No one said a word as they kept their eyes on the other.

Rukia noticed he had his shirt off and she tried not to look down from his face, instead she averted her eyes to the floor. Her face heated up a little and she remembered he said she was sleeping in his bed, which didn't help her at all. She looked back at his eyes and found him still staring at her. - She had no idea what to say but she was really uncomfortable with him just sitting there.

"Could you stop staring?" she asked quietly but still sternly.

Ichigo snapped out of his stupor and frowned.

"I'm not staring! You're the one who's staring!" his voice was getting louder and louder.

"I beg your pardon! You're the one who was staring at me while I was sleeping!" Rukia started started talking louder too. "You… you… you pervert!"

"P-_pervert!_ Who are you calling a pervert? You… you little… bed-stilling monster you!"

"B-bed-stilling what? How _dare_ you call me a monster?"

Now they were both yelling forgetting all about the other people in the house who were supposed to be sleeping. Rukia was no longer sleepy or tired, she was just angry at the boy in front of her who dared to call her a _monster_. She was about to retort when the door opened again and the man in the bear pajamas was standing in threshold again.

"Now what did I tell you, boy? Go to sleep and stop disturbing out guest!" he looked at Rukia and a smile appeared immediately on his face. "Rukia-chan, why don't you go back to sleep now? Don't worry, my stupid son won't bother you anymore!" turning to Ichigo he continued, "Go to bed! And no more yelling!"

"What bed? If you haven't noticed, it's already taken!" Ichigo lowered his voice and was now whispering just like his dad but his voice was still angry.

"Don't try being smart with me, boy! Just go to sleep already!" turning to Rukia again he added. "Please, forgive my son, Rukia-chan! I'll punish him in the morning! Good night!"

And with that he left the room, yet again.

Rukia just stared at the door and then looked back at the boy who was also staring to where his dad exited from. His face was set in frown and he looked extremely irritated. In a second he was facing her too but said no word. They were both looking at each other, no one saying a word to the other. The silence didn't last long though.

"I'm really gonna kill that man one day!" Ichigo shook his head and closed his eyes. He remained like that for a few seconds before he looked back at her and continued, "Listen… about before… sorry. I-I didn't know we were going to have guests and… yeah, sorry."

Rukia watched him and his now more calmer face. The frown was still there but it wasn't as intense as it had been a while ago.

"It's… it's okay! I… I'm sorry, too… I guess…" Rukia said quietly.

"You… guess? What's that supposed to mean?" the frown on Ichigo's face deepened. "I just said I'm sorry and that's what you say? _I guess!_"

"Well, maybe if you weren't in my bed, then just maybe I wouldn't be staring!"

"Aha! So you admit you were staring!"

"I… Why you little… Just go to sleep, okay? It's too late and I'm too tired for this now!" Ichigo got off from the bed and went to lay on the futon his dad had left for him.

Rukia smirked, she had won this little fight and she had a feeling this wasn't the last one they were going to have.

"Whatever you say… pervert." It was easy to sense the laughter in her voice and Ichigo didn't miss it. She was doing it on purpose now.

Ichigo glared at the girl in his bed. He could see the smile on her face. This girl was making fun of him, this late at night, when he had a bad day and all he wanted was get under the soft covers of his bed and sleep. But that was impossible now, that there was a certain girl in his bed, a girl he had never met before, a girl that was now making fun of him.

"Listen, I had a really bad day and all I want is some sleep! So could you, _please,_ just go to bed already!"

"Okay, okay! You don't need to be so rude!" Rukia's face became serious.

"I wouldn't be rude, if you stopped calling me a pervert!" Ichigo retorted.

"You know, if you are really that tired, you would have stopped repeating that!" another smirk appeared on Rukia's face.

Ichigo's face scrunched up _again_ and he glared for the nth this night.

"What?" Rukia's smirk never left her face. "You're the one who keeps arguing!"

"Okay, I get it." Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed before looking back at her with a calmer face. "Listen… Rukia, right?" she nodded, "I already said I was sorry. Let's just go to sleep! Aren't you tired?"

Rukia knew he was right so she decided to drop the argument even though she was having fun. _"Having fun, huh? It sure has been a while… maybe coming here won't be so bad!"_ she thought while staring at the boy near the bed she was in.

"Oi, did you suddenly go deaf?"

She snapped out of her trance and her eyes softened.

"Okay, okay! Fine! Let's go to bed! Ichi..go?" she looked at him expectantly.

"Yeah." a small smile graced Rukia's face, "What?"

"Nothing." the smile never left her while she shacked her head.

"What?" he asked more sternly this time.

"Nothing… Ichigo…" her smile only grew.

"Wha–" he stopped as he realized what was going on, "It's not what you think! It's not that!"

"Whatever you say… I-chi-go." she said every syllable separately the smile still present on her face.

"Cut it out!" Ichigo's anger was raising… _again_.

"What did I do?" Rukia asked innocently.

"You know very well! And it's not like that!"

"It's not like what?" Rukia was really having fun.

"My name!" Ichigo continued. "It doesn't mean that!"

"Mean what?"

Ichigo gritted his teeth. This girl was really annoying him. He hated people talking about his name and he knew what they all thought the first time they heard it! But it wasn't like that! It really wasn't!

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked.

"Maybe." her smile was still there.

"Well it's not what you think so stop it! I thought we agreed that we were going to sleep?"

"We are… Ichigo." with that Rukia started to lay down again.

"Cut it out!" the boy glared at her.

"Whatever… Ichigo." and just before he could retort she added, "Good night."

Ichigo sighed and decided not to continue or else they probably wouldn't get any sleep. Actually he was sure that they wouldn't sleep at all if this didn't end.

"Good night."

He lied down on his futon and tired to relax. It was a rough day but somehow he felt a little better now. He didn't know why but talking or more like arguing with this Rukia girl sort of fixed his mood. Ichigo had a feeling that tonight he would sleep peacefully. And with that the two of them fell in a dreamless slumber.

# # # # # #

Hisana awoke early the next morning as the sun raised from its sleep. She blinked a few times and it took her a little time to realize where she was. _"That's right! We moved and arrived late last night…"_ She yawned and looked at the man next to her. Kuchiki Byakuya was still asleep and it wasn't often that his wife was awake before him. _"He must be tired from the ride."_ The young woman stepped out of bed careful not to wake her sleeping husband. She located their bags, hers were placed at her side of the bed and Byakuyas' was at his. There also a few other bags, including Rakias', that were near the wall. Hisana smiled sweetly and went to her bag. She rustled trough it a little until she found some home clothes – a nice red t-shirt and black knee-length shorts. She also took her tooth brush with her and her face cleaning gel. Tip-towing her way out of the room she went looking for the bathroom. She walked towards a room and opened the door. _"Ha, from the first time… I'm good!"_ She giggled to herself and entered.

After a good and refreshing fifteen minutes she returned to her room and found Byakuya still sleeping. She went to his side and gently caressed his face not walking him up. She gazed down at him for about a minute before she placed her clothes, which were folded and in her hands since she exited the bathroom, on the bed and made her way to the door again.

When she was in the corridor she heard clattering from downstairs and wondered why she hadn't heard it the first time she went out of the room. She didn't hear no openings of doors, no footsteps going to the bathroom or downstairs. Hisana walked towards the stairs and descended them slowly. She made her way to the living room and further to where the noise was coming from. Even though it was still early and the sun hadn't lighted everything in the house, she again nonetheless noticed how neat and clean it was. It had a warm, homely aura that could bring a smile to anyone's face. She truly hoped that such a smile could grace her little sister face soon too.

She continued forward and entered a room which was supposed to be the kitchen. And she just stood there watching the scene before her eyes.

# # # # # #

Sunrays spilled into the room and slowly crawled their way to the bed where the young Kuchiki was sleeping. Morning air filled the room through the open window and the instant the rays lighted her face, Rukia was awake.

She scrunched her nose before blinking her eyes open. She wasn't in her room at home. This room was really different from hers, it wasn't her sister's and Byakuya's room either or any other room from her house. It most definitely wasn't a hotel room either because her brother would have chosen… well something _different_. But it didn't mean that she didn't like it, no, it was nice. There wasn't really anything special about it but the bed she was in was comfortable and the whole room was somehow warm and cozy.

Rukia turned on her back and stretched her limbs, her legs and arms and then she arched her back. She felt her muscles relax, it had been a while since she had slept that good. She remembered someone telling her that she should be happy everyday she wakes up and sees the sun shine high in the sky and so she did, she smiled. That someone told her that a person should be glad that he or she has woken up and gets to see another day because no one knew when their time would come so they had to be happy and appreciate life. Rukia wasn't sure who she had heard that from, all she remembered was that it was a man and she was little when she used to hear it a lot, so she presumed it was her father. Yes, it had to be him. It was good that she could remember him with something like that, something that can make you smile and also think over it. And she did, oh how much she did.

A sudden rustle coming from next to the bed she was currently in. She blinked a few times before bending slightly to the right and looking down at the floor. And that's when she saw _him_ and remembered everything from late last night.

The boy she was arguing fiery just a few hours ago was now sleeping soundly on his futon on the floor next to her. He looked so peaceful and calm, nothing like he had been awhile ago. The frown she had noticed on his face wasn't present and she found him… _beautiful?_ Rukia had always thought that calling a boy or a man beautiful was a little weird and that's why the word "handsome" existed. But this was different, she just couldn't use that as a description for him, at least not now.

She suddenly noticed she had been staring at the boy for a little too long so Rukia decided it was time to get up since she was already awake. She stretched again and threw the blanket off of her. She had slept with the same clothes she had travelled with and needed her toothbrush, cleanser and some new fresh clothes. One problem though – no matter how much she looked around the room she was in, Rukia couldn't find any sign of her bags what so ever. The mobile phone on the night stand next to the bed was currently her only belonging. Rukia took it and glanced at the time only to groan in disapproval – it was way too early.

Getting out of the bed as quietly as she could, the girl looked around for her things a little more. Her bags weren't on her side of the bed or in front of it, they also weren't near the walls or the desk. She glanced at where Ichigo was still laying.

She let out a sigh and whispered to herself: "Where could they be? How am I supposed to change when I can't find anything? I don't even know if anyone's awake and even if I did, I still don't know where Hisana is!" she let out another frustrated groan as she turned her back to the bed.

"Talking to yourself isn't a good sign, you know!" a voice coming from behind her startled Rukia and she jumped slightly.

# # # # # #

Ichigo had actually woken up the moment she started getting out of bed but pretended to be still asleep. He watched the girl move around the room looking for something and instantly closed his eyes when she got closer to him. The he heard her groan and mumble to herself so he decided to finally talk.

# # # # # #

Rukia turned around again and had a surprised look on her face.

"You're awake?" she asked not replying to his comment.

"It seems so." Ichigo had a smirk on his face and he suddenly didn't feel sleepy at all. "But as I said, talking to yourself isn't good." his smirk grew.

"I wasn't talking to myself!" Rukia's surprised expression disappeared completely and she frowned, "I was just… complanig!"

"To yourself." Ichigo answered back, "Which is still counted as talking to yourself."

"Didn't know you were such a professor in that," Rukia retorted, "Know it from personal experience?"

Ichigo's smirk faded a little but not completely. "Not at all! But living in a family like mine, you learn things like that!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Rukia questioned curious.

"If you're staying here for a while, you'll soon find out!" his smirk was back full force.

"Whatever." Rukia frowned and turned her back to him. "I don't have time, I've got to find my bags!"

"Didn't you bring them with you?" Ichigo said watching her.

"Of course I did, idiot! But I was asleep when we got here so I don't know where they've been put!"

Rukia was getting annoyed. She started pacing around the room trying to figure out what to do.

"I don't even know where Hisana is!" she was thinking out loud.

"Who's Hisana?" Ichigo interrupted her thoughts.

"My sister." she answered quickly and continued pacing around.

"She came with you?"

"Yes, she did!" Rukia stopped and looked at him. "Why?"

"No reason." the boy shrugged, "But she's probably in the guest room." seeing he caught the girl's interest he added, "It's the door next to this room and the bathroom is at the end of the corridor."

"Umm… thanks." She said and went to the night stand to fetch her phone and left the room.

Once out the door Rukia she let out a sigh. This sure was different- having someone to talk with so early in the morning and it not being someone from her family. She went to the door, leading to the next room and knocked.

Nothing.

She knocked again.

Still nothing so she decided to enter. _"Maybe they're sleeping… or already up…"_

Upon entering the room noticed it was really cozy just like the one she slept in. She found her bags and Hisanas' and Byakuyas' on the floor and she proceeded to take some stuff out.

When she had gotten all the things she needed Rukia glanced at the bed and stopped moving. Byakuya was lying there obviously sleeping but the place next to him was empty. She had always thought that he was the one who got up first but it seemed that even the great Byakuya Kuchiki could get tired. She chuckled at that and tried to leave the room as quietly as she could.

# # # # # #

Downstairs, in the kitchen, Hisana Kuchiki observed as a young girl with short orange hair, dressed in a pink pajama and a little darker pink apron, buzzed happily in the room. There were many ingredients put out on the table and counter and it looked like she was cooking something.

"Good morning." Hisana greeted with a soft smile and watched as the girl jumped slightly, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!"

"Oh no, please, you didn't." the girl had turned around and was smiling at the woman. "You must be Kuchiki Hisana-san! Good morning. It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Kurosaki Yuzu." the girl finished and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kurosaki-chan but please call me Hisana and maybe I can call you Yuzu-chan?" Hisana bowed back.

"That would be wonderful, Hisana-san!" Yusu beamed.

"What are you making, Yuzu-chan?" the elder women said as she walked next to the smiling girl.

"Oh, I'm making breakfast but since I didn't know what you like I decided to make pancakes! Everyone loves pancakes!" her smile grew bigger.

"That's true! Do you need any help? What can I do to help you?"

"Oh no, please, you're a guest!" Yuzu shacked her head.

"But I would love to help, I actually enjoy cooking!" Hisana insisted.

"Well okay then," Yuzu agreed, "You can help me with the mixture, the eggs and flour are on the table.

"Okay! Let's get started!" Hisana cheered.

# # # # # #

Rukia was in the bathroom brushing her teeth her headphones in her ears and the music to the max. Byakuya had always hated when she did that and he had told her a_ lot_ of times but that never stopped her.

_"Brand new world is coming, we are the world._

_Say say say hello to the world, into my world,_

_hello to the world, we are the world._

_Hands up high don't stop the beat just like my heart._

_Hands up high There will never be a time like this again"_

_

* * *

_

_**A/N:**__ Finished! *yawn*_

_It's 02:07 am here and I haven't been sleeping well for a few nights now… sleeping disorder, insomnia… call it whatever you want._

_I wanted to upload it on 30__th__ because that's when I finished school but it wasn't ready so it's today! Actually it should have been up for my mom's b-day but I got lazy and I had to help her for her exam._

_Gomenne, I'm in a real blabbing mood tonight, who knows why…_

_Anyways… thanks to:_

_**KuroKuchiki**__ – I'm glad you like it, about the disease – I'm not telling now! ^_^_

_**Muerte-chan**__ – Glad to hear you like it too and btw I checked that song right after I read your comment and it's been on my phone since then. I listened to it for about two weeks every day! XD Great lyrics! I'll try to add it in the story… I think I have an idea where._

_And since you asked if I plan to put music in every chapter I noticed I hadn't put any in this one, so I added the song in the end. I just listened to it today and it's really fun and cheerful. I agree with the artists, it's a great song for the summer! ^_^_

_**Pantastic45**__ – Thanks to you, too! I guess we have similar thoughts… but the story will change…_

_And thanks everyone for adding the story to you story alert and everything! I'm really glad you like it! I hope that I'll get more reviews this time 'cause I don't check my e-mail that often and I thought people didn't like the story._

_06.06 – 02.07.2010_

_SakuraNoKaze_


	4. The Midget and The Strawberry

**A Heart's Melody**

Summary: How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are

the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to

those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy

who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**Third Chapter: The Midget and The Strawberry**

After Rukia exited the bathroom she made her way towards the room where the orange-head boy was probably waiting or maybe he was even asleep again. The girl was dressed in a knee-length baby blue dress. It had thin straps and was held right under her chest leaving the rest of the dress "floating" freely with every move Rukia made.

Once more, as Ichigo looked at the raven-haired girl in front of him, she resembled an angel to him. So petite, gentle and delicate. It was strange that he was having these thoughts, they had only just met and there was something about her that intrigued him, made him want to know more.

He only realized he had been staring at her for too long when a voice brought him away from his thoughts:

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Rukia asked with a frown.

"Like what?" Ichigo answered with a question.

"Like you know something I don't know about." She said, frown deepening.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ichigo watched as she knitted her eyebrows even more, if that was possible, so he decided to continue teasing her, "It's just that…"

Rukia encouraged him to go on.

"Just that…" Ichigo's smirk grew, "I didn't know you were that short when I was you in bed last night."

With that said his smirk turned into a grin as he saw her reaction. Her eyes grew a little wide before she gritted her teeth and knitted her eyebrows more than before. But before he could laugh at his triumph, he felt a sharp pain in his shin.

Rukia had planted her foot in his body part. The boy instantly crouched down and held his injured shin.

"How dare you call me _short_?" Rukia yelled.

"Why the hell did you kick me?" Ichigo also yelled.

"Oh please, you totally deserved it and you know it!" the girl retorted.

"Well it's not like I lied!" his voice was getting normal.

"Do you want me to hit you again?" Rukia glared at him.

"Fine, fine! I'll stop!" the boy said while rubbing his shin. _"Damn, she's strong… for such a short person."_ he almost smirked at that but decided against it since he didn't know what she would take it like.

*Knock! Knock!*

Both occupants of the room turned their eyes towards the door as they heard the sound of someone knocking.

"Come in!" Ichigo said rubbing his foot one last time before getting up.

Once the door opened Rukia saw a young girl, a little younger than herself, stand in the threshold. She had a gentle smile on her face and jugging by her hair color, which was orange, she had something to do with the orange-head idiot in the room. _"Probably his sister… poor girl!"_ Rukia thought as she watched the girl and offered a small smile too.

"Oh good, you're awake!" the girl said with cheerful voice. "First of all good morning and it's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kurosaki Yuzu, I'm Ichigo's sister!" and with that she bowed.

Rukia bowed back impressed by the politeness this girl showed and wondered how the two siblings could be related.

"Good morning to you too, Kurosaki-san and the pleasure is all mine!" Rukia said just like she was thought, her bow was deep and her voice was clear from all the anger she felt only seconds ago. She had learned how to bottle up her feelings and how to react in every situation, something she was glad of sometimes. "My name is Rukia, Kuchiki Rukia."

"Oh please, call me Yuzu and maybe I can do the same?" the smile on her face fell off and she looked a little worried.

"Of course you can… Yuzu-Chan." Rukia smiled at her gently.

"Great!" Yuzu's face beamed again.

"Sorry to interrupt this touching moment but Yuzu, was there something you wanted?" asked Ichigo who had watched both girls intently ever since they started talking.

"Oh that's right, thanks Ichi-nii! Breakfast is ready and we'll be waiting you downstairs." she turned to Rukia and added, "Hisana-san is already downstairs and she helped me get everything done!"

_"So that's where she was!"_ Rukia thought, "Is that so?"

"Oh yes and she is really good at cooking!"

"She is, isn't she?" the young Kuchiki said more than asked as she looked at the floor with a small smile.

"Okay Yuzu, thanks! We'll be down in a few seconds." Ichigo interrupted again. "You should probably go and wake Karin and the old man up. But wait until we go down before waking him."

"Okay, Ichi-nii, just don't take too long or the food will get cold and it's better to eat now. Even if we heat it later, the taste still won't be the same." Yuzu said and turned to exit the room. "See you downstairs, Rukia-Chan!"

"Alright." and with that Yuzu left and closed the door behind her.

Rukia started at the door for awhile before a voice brought her back to reality.

"Come on, let's go downstairs!" it was Ichigo and he was already walking towards the door.

The girl blinked once, then twice and turned to the bed to take her phone and headphones as he exited the room.

"Come on, midget! Move those short legs of yours!"

Rukia was sure he was smiling, more like smirking outside in the corridor as he said that. She was going to yell at him when she realized that was probably what he wanted her to do and decided for the next better thing. _"He wants to play, huh? I'll show him! No one can call Kuchiki Rukia short and live peacefully after that!"_ She grabbed her phone along with her headphones and followed him out of the room. Rukia was right, the boy was leaning on the wall and there was that smirk she started disliking only after the few hours they spent together. But she was so not letting it pass that easy.

With her head up high Rukia quickly passed him and headed to the stairs which obviously led to the lower part of the house. As she was at the stairs, Rukia turned to look at the boy who had just started walking towards her. The smirk was still present on his face but that wasn't going to last long.

"Looks like your _looong_ legs aren't making you any faster than me…Strawberry."

Rukia watched as his smirk died and that scowl of his returned again. But before he could say or do anything, the raven head ran down the stairs with a smirk of her own.

"Hey, wait up! I told you last night, it's not that!" Ichigo yelled and stormed after the girl.

# # # # # #

"I knew they would get along perfectly!" Kurosaki Isshin said cheerfully.

"But Ichi-nii insulted her! He really needs to learn how to act around people!" Kurosaki Yuzu frowned at her brother.

"Can you guys let me go to the bathroom now?" another voice sounded in the room.

Kurosaki Isshin and his two daughters were currently in his room, the door opened slightly only enough for him and Yuzu to be able to peep out an eye to watch the situation playing in the corridor.

"Oh my sweet daughter still has a lot to learn about boys!" Isshin said with the same cheerful voice as he hugged Yuzu tightly.

"Oi, old goat, let go of Yuzu and let me pass! I'm hungry and I want breakfast!" and with that said Isshin was off of his daughter and rubbing his head.

"Ouch! Karin-Chan is so mean today! What did I ever do to deserve this?" the man said with teary eyes.

"Oh shut up already and hurry up! I'm gonna wash up and I'm going downstairs to eat!"

"Okay, Karin-Chan! We'll see you there!" Yuzu answered.

"Okay." and with that the only ones left in the room were Yuzu and Isshin who was still rubbing his head.

# # # # # #

In another room on the same floor, Kuchiki Byakuya was gathering his stuff to go and wash up.

"So that is Ichigo. Kurosaki Ichigo."

# # # # # #

"Nee-san! Good morning!" Rukia greeted a smiling Hisana.

"Good morning, sweetie! How did you sleep?" her sister greeted back.

"Okay, I guess."

"Hey!" Ichigo's voice sounded from outside the room and in the next moment he was right behind Rukia. "I told you to–"

Kurosaki Ichigo couldn't say a word. Rukia had somehow found the way to the kitchen, probably because of the wonderful aroma coming from it, and he had followed her quickly but the moment he entered it was like he was in one of those rooms filled with mirrors in the circus. In his kitchen were now standing not one but two raven-haired females. For Ichigo it felt like he was looking at a copy of the girl he had met just a few hours ago, an older version of Rukia. It was almost impossible for people to think of them as twins because there was an obvious age difference and they also weren't a mother and a daughter so that didn't leave many options.

"Oh, good morning!" Hisana greeted immediately after the boy showed up behind her sister. "I see you've already met my sister, Rukia. I'm Kuchiki Hisana, it's a pleasure." and she bowed.

"Kurosaki Ichigo, pleased to meet you." the boy bowed back and added to himself _"So they're sisters? They look almost the same."_

"We should probably wait for the others and then we can start the breakfast!" Hisana made her way to the table, "Yuzu-Chan went upstairs to you wake you guys up."

"Yeah, she came but we were already awake." Ichigo informed.

"What's for breakfast, nee-san, it smells lovely!" asked Rukia sniffing the air.

"Pancakes!" Hisana answered with a smile.

But before her sister could say anything a happy Isshin flied in the room with two girls after him, Yuzu being one as Rukia noticed.

"Pancakes! My dear Yuzu makes the best pancakes in the world!" he yelled. "Good morning Hisana-san, you look wonderful today."

"Why thank you, Isshin-san, that's very kind of you." Hisana greeted back with her smile.

"It's the truth," turning to Rukia he said, "And good morning to you to Rukia-chan, our first meeting last night wasn't so pleasant, thanks to _someone_" glancing at Ichigo who just glared at his dad, "but I hope we can forget about that?" he finished.

It instantly hit Rukia:

"Oh, you're the person with the bear pajamas!"

Everyone was quiet before Yuzu started giggling and Ichigo and the other girl just shacked their heads.

"Yes, that was me!" Isshin beamed and hugged Rukia tightly, "Please call me Isshin, no call me daddy and you can be my third daughter… and who knows maybe later even my daughter-in-law!" he said cheerfully while almost suffocating a now embarrassed Rukia.

"Shut up, you goat and let her go, she can't breathe!" Ichigo yelled and detached his father from the raven-haired girl. There was a small tinge of red visible on his face, "And stop scaring our guests!"

"I'm not scaring them! I'm just sharing my dreams with them!" he said to his son with a childish pout on his face which turned into a silly grin when he looked at the still blushing Rukia.

"Well keep your dreams to yourself!" Ichigo yelled again.

He didn't bother glancing at Rukia, she was probably still blushing and he was sure he was quite red himself. Damn his father and his crazy behavior.

"Well anyway" the dark-haired girl broke the awkward silence, "I think we still haven't met. My name is Kurosaki Karin."

"Oh that's right, we were never really introduced!" Hisana answered, "Nice to meet you Karin-chan, if I may? I'm Kuchiki Hisana and this is my sister, Rukia." she said nodding her head towards Rukia.

Rukia, glad that the team of the conversation was changed, bowed slightly and greeted the girl:

"It's a pleasure to meet you… Karin-chan…" and as the other girl nodded lightly she continued, "I'm Kuchiki Rukia."

"Well, now that we've all been introduced, how about we got eat that breakfast? I'm starving!" Isshin asked with his cheerful voice once more, "And maybe my precious third daughter and her loving sister can sit next to me?" and in an instant he was between Rukia and Hisana and had taken both their hands in his.

Before Ichigo could try and remove his father from the two slightly surprised now siblings, Yuzu interrupted:

"But daddy, you said we were going to have three guests? Where is the third one?" she looked around.

"Oh, that would be Byakuya but he is still asleep, we can start without him." Hisana answered.

"Great! Let's g–" but Isshin never had the chance to finish.

"Now that won't be very polite, now would it, Hisana?" a cold, mind freezing voice came from the other room.

A gasp came from Yuzu's mouth, Karin's face was as bored as ever, Isshin frowned, Hisana's and Rukia's eyes went to the direction of the voice, Rukia had a strange look on her face, but Ichigo decided to ignore it and he himself looked at the same direction with narrowed eyes.

A man dressed in a white shirt and black dress pants entered the kitchen. _"Dress pants? Where is he going?"_ Ichigo thought before looking at the man closely.

He had long black hair, going a little beneath his shoulders with cold grey eyes. His gaze was piercing and his face was clear of any emotion what so ever. His aura emitted confidence, superiority and power. Something in him could make you shiver just from his presence without even looking in his eyes.

Ichigo regarded the man as he got further in the room and went to Hisana's side. On the way his eyes met Ichigo's and the boy was almost absolutely sure that he saw hostility in them, no idea why though, and the orange-head frowned deeper, his blush long gone.

"I would appreciate it if you let go my wife's and my sister's arm now, _Kurosaki!_" Byakuya's voice was demanding and something like _venom_ could be detected in his speech.

"And there goes our peaceful, _happy_ breakfast!" Isshin sulked. "Couldn't you have slept a little more Byakuya? Why do you want to ruin our fun?"

"I highly doubt that your definition of fun matches everyone else's'." Byakuya said nonchalantly. "And your hands seam to not have moved." he lowered his eyes to where the oldest Kurosaki was still holding onto Rukia's and Hisana's hands.

"I'm not letting go!" Isshin screeched. "These lovely ladies promised they'll sit next me!"

_"No we didn't."_ the passed through Rukia's head and she looked back at her brother since she had averted her gaze to the man holding her arm tighter now the moment he yelled.

Byakuya's face was still emotionless but it was clear to the wife and sister that if something wasn't done soon, this could end badly. Byakuya was a scary man when he got mad not that they had seen him like that very often… or at all. Maybe just a _few_ times.

Hisana was the first to speak next:

"Well, a promise is a promise and we should better get to the table before the food gets cold!"

The silly grin was back on Isshin's face when he heard her words.

"Oh yes! It won't be as yummy!" Yuzu suddenly said, "Come on daddy, let's go eat breakfast!"

"Right! Let's go, Yuzu-chan! Karin-chan!" added Hisana.

Isshin's grin just grew wider and he looked at Byakuya with a glint in his eyes that said _"Ha! I win!"_ After that he tugged Rukia and Hisana towards the table, Yuzu and Karin following suit.

Ichigo hadn't moved and nor had Byakuya. The boy was still looking at the black-haired man who was silently observing the rest of the people in the kitchen or more specifically the man who was now sitted between the two Kuchiki sisters.

Suddenly Ichigo's eyes met the cold grey ones of the person in front of him.

_"Man, this guy is creepy!"_ thankfully he didn't say that out loud.

"Kurosaki Ichigo." it seemed as Byakuya's voice was even colder than before but Ichigo wasn't one to who could get scared that easily. He kept his stance while answering.

"That's me. Welcome to our home." he gave a barely visible nod to the man.

"I can't say it's a pleasure to be here and I _will_ make sure we don't stay too long but, all I can say is – I'm watching you… Kurosaki Ichigo!"

That sounded awfully like a threat to Ichigo but he really had no idea what the man meant by those words. What had he done wrong? They had just met, Ichigo hadn't said anything to insult him _yet_ or his family and he hadn't started a fight or broken anything so why was that man talking to him like that.

He wasn't given the chance to answer when Hisana's voice interrupted them:

"Byakuya, don't be mean to the boy. He hasn't done anything–"

"Yet." Her husband put in simply.

"Just come here to eat, we're all waiting for you two, you know." Her voice hadn't lost its gentleness at all.

Byakuya kept his eyes at Ichigo for a few moments longer before sighing lightly and making his way to the table.

Yuzu had sit on Hisana's other side, Isshin still being between her and Rukia, and Karin was next to her sister. There were two more free chairs – one beside Rukia and the other opposite Isshin. Byakuya was determined to sit next to the young girl but was stopped when Isshin finally had his attention on his friend.

"Ah, Byakuya, I saved you the place opposite me! Only the heads of the families get to sit there!" he wiggled his brows and had an inviting grin on his face.

"I'm not interested the slightest about what you have or what you are doing. I'll sit next to Rukia." his cold voice answered.

"Byakuya, let the kids sit together… to get to know each other better…" Hisana's pleading eyes always made her husband back off. He could never say _"no"_ to her. There were probably a few occasions when those eyes wouldn't work on him but they could easily be counted on the fingers… of only one of your hands.

"I don't see why they have to get to know each other…" he sighed "but I'll do it anyway."

Hisana smiled at her husband and Isshin grinned.

"Come on son! Sit to the lovely Rukia-chan! We're all waiting for you, you know!" he called.

"No one asked you to wait!" Ichigo said back as he came to the table and sat next to Rukia.

"Okay, now that we're all here, let's begin breakfast!" Yuzu cheered and any attempts of her father to say anything back to the orange-head teen.

# # # # # #

Breakfast had gone less boring and awkward than Rukia thought it would. Normally she didn't like to talk much to people she didn't know and wasn't really a very sociable person. She had her goals in life, her understandings and she didn't like people going through her life, jugging her, trying to tutor her how to live.

Rukia had a little world of her own where she could go whenever she sad, angry, devastated or even happy. She didn't have many friends in school, not only because they moved a lot, but also because she didn't feel it was needed. All the school she had been to where the same. The kids only cared about looks and money. The girls interested more on their clothing than what they had in their heads and the boys also interested in the girls' clothes… or exactly how _short_ and _skimpy_ they were.

It wasn't that Rukia had something against dressing well, on the contrary, she approved people who knew how to dress and weren't only trying to look like the models in magazines… or like strippers.

Rukia had her own style – she wore whatever she liked and felt comfortable in. She was quite pleased whenever people were looking at her and what she wore, not that it was provocative and extravagant but because it was unique, fresh and totally her.

But despite everything mentioned above, Rukia actually enjoyed breakfast with the Kurosaki family. Something that rarely or should she say never happened when she was just with her sister and brother. Byakuya was always silent while eating his meals and no matter how hard his wife tried to start a conversation all his answers were short. The two sisters eventually stopped trying to make him speak and talked only between themselves but the conversations were never as lively as they were now.

Isshin was asking so many questions – random questions – that Rukia was amazed how he could have eaten so much when he hardly stopped talking. He had asked about their last house – where it was, did they like it, did Hisana have a job, what they thought about the town, were their neighbors nice, how old Rukia was, did she miss her friends, did she have a _boyfriend_… Most or all of the questions concerned the two black-haired sisters, like Isshin was not at all interested in Byakuya but the head of the Kuchiki family didn't seem to mind. His eyes had just narrowed the slightest when Isshin asked Rukia the boyfriend question.

When Yuzu listed all the things they could eat their breakfast with Rukia decided it was time to irritate the orange-head next to her.

"Yuzu-chan, could you please pass me the _strawberry_ jam?" she asked in her sweet voice.

"Of course!" Yuzu handed her the jar, a smile on her face, "You like strawberries? So do I!"

"Oh, I _love strawberries!_" she stretched out the words as she felt the boy's hands next to her grip his utensils. She fought back a smirk.

"So Rukia-chan, how old are you? You seem to be around my son's age…" even though he already knew the answer Isshin hadn't forgotten his promise to the older Kuchiki sister.

"Oh, I'm 17." Rukia answered after swallowing a small cut piece of her strawberry pancake.

"She just turned them this February." Hisana added.

"Oh that means you're just one year younger than Ichigo! He'll be 18 in July!" Isshin beamed for an unknown reason to Rukia. "You probably miss your friends, don't you?" he asked next.

"Oh…" that was always a hard question for her but with the time she learned to ignore the feeling which bugged her in the beginning, "We weren't really that close for me to really miss them."

"Well I'm sure you'll make a lot of new friends here!" he cheered. "My son has really nice friends… though I always wonder how they still stand him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ichigo barked from next to Rukia but his father ignored him.

"So Rukia-chan… do you have any boyfriend you left behind?"

"Ah…" that one she really didn't expect, "ah… well… not really… I-I'm not… not really interested in that." she kept her eyes at the plate in front of her and the food inside it.

"Perfect!" all eyes were suddenly on Isshin. "That you don't have a boyfriend, that is! You want feel bad for leaving him behind." he answered while looking at her slightly wide eyes.

"I guess you're right." the girl mumbled quietly and left her fork and knife neatly in the dish noting she was finished.

Seeing that, Isshin turned his eyes towards his son.

"Ichigo, my boy, since you've finished eating why don't you take Rukia-chan and show her around town?" his smirk was right there again.

"Who said I was finish–"

"That's a great idea, daddy!" Yuzu interrupted her brother. "Rukia-chan, you're absolutely going to love Karakura town!" turning to Ichigo, "Come on brother, hurry up! Don't waste any time! You have so much to show to Rukia-chan!"

Ichigo just looked at his sister for a moment, snorted, dropped his utensils in his _empty_ dish and rose from his chair.

"Alright. Come on then… midget." he flashed Rukia a grin as he began to walk out of the kitchen.

Yuzu had awed, Karin remained bored though she did glance at Rukia; Byakuya had his emotionless face as always… and Hisana and Isshin were looking at the small girl.

Rukia was annoyed but knew better. She shouldn't let her anger get the best of her, especially when her brother was in the same room.

She took a deep breath and also rose walking after the orange-head.

"Coming… _strawberry._" she spat the word but was still careful with Byakuya's presence.

Hisana smiled and Isshin and Karin grinned when they heard a grumble come from Ichigo who had stopped little after exiting the kitchen.

"Thank you for the breakfast, Yuzu-chan! It was delicious!" Rukia bowed her head lightly and exited.

"Ah, you're welcome!" Yuzu called back, a small blush visible on her face.

Rukia and Ichigo just glared at each other before walking to the front door.

"I think I might be sharing your dreams, Isshin-san." Hisana said with a smile on her face while watching the two teens walk away.

"Great!" Isshin cheered happily. "I already have an idea!"

"What dreams?" Byakuya questioned calmly but was completely ignored by his wife as she was now feverishly conversing with Isshin. He decided to let it slip, after all, Isshin dreams couldn't be that interesting… _right?_

_

* * *

_

_**A/N:**__ Ah, finally! I didn't want this to take so long but there were a few days… I took a break from writing. Hehe *sweatdrop* _

_But this chapter is supposed to be the longest so far. ^_^  
_

_Anyways, I hope you guys like, this chapter is was kind of hard because I don't really like introductions and I felt like I have so many things to put in but didn't want to make it too long and boring._

_I'll try to update faster… or… maybe I won't update at all… I'm not really sure… there's a lot of things I want to think over._

_**Rukes:**__ Glad to hear you like it._

_**Anna Haruno:**__ Aww! Thank you! Readers like are so awesome, I'm really glad you're interested in my story. ^_^_

_**KuroKuchiki:**__ Thanks! I'm glad you like it and you're actually continuing to read it._

_I would only like to say once more that English isn't my native language and I hope the mistakes aren't severe. _

_Enjoy! ^_^_

_03.07 – 18.07.2010_

_SakuraNoKaze_


	5. Twisted Fate

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**Forth Chapter: Twisted Fate**

"Come on, midget! Can't you walk any faster?"

Ichigo and Rukia were walking down the streets of Karakura, Rukia tailing after Ichigo.

"Shut up you stupid Strawberry! I'm walking aren't I?"

Rukia was taking her time looking around the neighborhood while walking behind the boy to an unknown direction. She had one headphone in her ear; the music wasn't too loud so she could still hear what's going on around her without any difficulties and wasn't too low so she was able to distinguish the lyrics.

"_We had loved each other__, __  
__But we're separating now, __  
__Although we're under the same sky at different places, __  
__Please do not forget me_

_When the cold wind brushes against my fingertips,__  
__I am able to hear the sound of your laughs,__  
__I cry again because I'm lonely,__  
__Because I miss your two eyes which reflected me,__  
__The words I wasn't able to say,__  
__Because my lips had frozen__"_

"Well you sure aren't walking fast enough since you're so behind!"

The sky was clear, the sun was shining upon them and there was a soft breeze noticeable, making it neither too hot, nor too cold. It was just one of those perfect days of the spring.

"Well it's not my fault your legs are so long!"

It wasn't a rich neighborhood nor was it a poor one. The houses were nor too big nor too small, just average – with two or somewhere three floors.

"I think you're wrong, my legs aren't long… yours are just _short_!"

He knew exactly what was going to come after that and that was his objective.

"What did you say?"

Objective completed.

"What can't hear way _down_ there?"

His head turned slightly so he could look at her expression. And there it was – that stupid smirk Rukia was so sure he had on his face.

"Well, only if you could actually _talk_ then maybe I would be able to understand!"

Ichigo's smirk faded and Rukia was able to see his jaw clench slightly before he faced forward again.

"Darn midget! How can someone so short be so mean?"

Rukia's eye twitched as she heard his question.

"Watch it, Strawberry! Don't call me that!"

A moment later Ichigo was crouching and rubbing his shin.

"Damn it! Why do you keep doing that?"

Now he was yelling at her and Rukia had to intention to keep quiet either.

"Like you didn't deserve that? As to counter your question – why do you keep calling me that?"

Standing straight as the pain subsided, Ichigo glared at the girl standing next to him now.

"Well, it's not like I lied!"

Another hit came from Rukia but this time Ichigo saw it and it never touched him. He quickly moved a little away from her.

"Why you insolent… gigantic… orange… Strawberry!"

Ichigo was careful to keep his distance from her for he did not want to get hit again.

"You're wrong, you know? There are no orange strawberries."

The smirk reappeared on his face again.

"Oh, there is _one!_ Why don't you look in a mirror? You can't miss it!"

This time it was Rukia's turn to smirk when she saw the boy's frowning face. Before he could retort though, they were interrupted.

"That was good. Even though we have not met I have a feeling I will like you miss."

Rukia observed as a boy with dark shoulder length hair and glasses approached them. He was slender, a little shorted than Ichigo and looked… intelligent.

"Ishida? What are you doing here?"

The boy ignored the orange-head's question and didn't even spare him a look. Rukia wondered why she didn't see him before he got so close to them.

"My name is Ishida Uryū. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss…"

Uryū had bowed slightly and one of Rukia's hands was now in his.

"Rukia. Kuchiki Rukia. It's a pleasure to meet you too, Ishida-san."

The next thing she knew Ishida was pressing his lips lightly to the knuckles of her hand.

"The pleasure is all mine, Kuchiki-san."

He had released Rukia's hand and was about to straighten up when Ichigo hit him upside the head.

"What do you think you're doing, Ishida?"

Rubbing his head with one hand and pushing his glasses further up his nose, the dak-haired boy narrowed his eyes at Ichigo but other than that remained calm.

"I'm being a gentleman, Kurosaki. You should try it out some time."

Ichigo snorted and put his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, gentleman my ass! So what _are_ you doing here?"

Ishida stopped rubbing his head and turned fully towards Ichigo.

"I needed some sewing supplies. I'm looking for new fabrics."

Rukia raised her eyebrows at that, while Ichigo snorted again.

"Figure you would be doing something boring."

Ishida's eyes narrowed at the comment.

"I can assure you that sewing is not boring, it is really– "

But whatever his words were going to be, never came out as Ichigo finished for him.

"Girly. No wonder people spread rumors."

Rukia had a little hunch what the rumors were about.

"Shut your mouth, Kurosaki. And what are you doing here? And why are you wasting this girl's time?"

Rukia couldn't stop the small smirk that came up on her face.

"It's more like I'm wasting _my_ time! And I'm showing her around town."

Ishida then turned to Rukia.

"I'm sorry, Kuchiki-san. I would be glad to show you around Karakura since this idiot won't do a good job, but I'm really in a hurry."

Ichigo was ready to yell at his _friend_ but Rukia wasn't really in the mood for more shouting, whether she would be doing it or only listening.

"That's okay Ishida-san, don't worry."

She had a sweet smile on her face; a smile that Ichigo thought wasn't real.

"Since you're in a hurry, go already, Ishida! You're just _wasting_ our time here. Come on, midget! Let's go!"

Rukia's eyes narrowed at the boy who was now walking away but when she faced Ishida again, she had her smile back on.

"It was nice meeting you, Ishida-san."

Bowing her head just a little, she started after her orange-head _guide_. Once she caught up to him, she smacked him on the back of his shoulder.

"What the hell was that for?"

Glaring at him, the girl did not answer and just kept walking.

"Same here, Kuchiki-san. It seems that finally someone who can tame him showed up… but I'm not sure whether he'll be able to do the same or not… who knows…"

Ishida watched as Ichigo walked next to Rukia again and lightly bumped her arm.

"Oi! Where do you think you're going? I thought I was supposed to show you around?"

Rukia looked at him for a second before looking straight ahead again.

"Well you're not really doing a good job, now are you?"

Ichigo glared at the girl next to him.

"Shut up and let's go! If you want me to show you around, you should move those legs of yours!"

Ishida shook his head as he glanced at them one last time before turning around and walking away.

# # # # # #

Isshin and Byakuya were sitting at the table in kitchen, now all cleaned up, looking at various documents.

"Your wife is a really kind person! Just like my Masaki!"

Hisana had gone upstairs with Yuzu to unpack her things and Karin went out to play soccer with friends.

"Did you have a chance to read all the charts last night?"

Byakuya wanted to go straight to the point while they were still the two of them so he ignored any and all interruptions and distractions coming from the other man.

"Oh, I did, I did! Let's start with Hisana-san since we already mentioned her!"

Isshin pulled out some files over others and opened them, his face now serious.

"Did you read the files? Do you have an opinion?"

It was strange to see or hear Byakuya being so talkative.

"I did read them… but… there really isn't something here that determines her condition completely. So many exams, so many different doctors… and so many different opinions…"

Isshin was going through the papers while Byakuya was watching him.

"Does that mean you don't know what it is?"

The head of the Kurosaki family stopped examining the sheets of paper but didn't look up.

"These symptoms are typical of different diseases and I'm sure your wife can't have _all_ of them at the same time… or even in one lifetime. None of the doctors have made a conclusion about her condition… I have to run up some tests myself and only then I _may_ be able to tell what's truly wrong with her."

After a few seconds of looking at the man next to him, Byakuya nodded.

"I understand."

Isshin put away some files and took other in front of him but didn't open them. Instead he let out a sigh and straightened his back.

"But another thing troubles me… Rukia-chan… her illness is very uncommon. It's not normal for people her age and there is not many information about the disease. The things doctors believe trigger it are not possible in Rukia-chan's case… further more… this illness…"

Isshin had not looked up at his friend; his eyes were cast down, looking at nothing in particular. But Byakuya was eyeing him the whole time he spoke.

"I know. That is why we came here. You should know more about the disease more than any other doctor I know."

* * *

_**A/N: **__I decided to stop here 'cause I'm really tired and I wasn't really sure how to continue…_

_I added a song again. I forgot to add one in the last chapter so I'm not making the same mistake! _

_I know it's a ballad but I really love it and it's so awesome to listen to! It's trilling so if it was me, it would work for going around a new town…_

_My dad even likes the song and he rarely agrees with me… because he's stubborn… _

_Anyways I hope you like it… but I guess it's not that good since the review count is low…_

_I really hoped that I could trigger something in the readers…_

_Enough with that, thanks to those who reviewed and to __**KuroKuchiki**__, you don't know how glad I am to hear that. ^_^_

_So if you want me to continue this, please leave a little review, don't just add it to your fav or aleart list._

_Oh btw, before I forget to ask, does anyone have any idea about the illness or Byakuya's words?_

_Enjoy! ^_^_

_20.07 – 29.07.2010_

_SakuraNoKaze_


	6. Cat 'n' Clothes

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**Fifth Chapter: Cat 'n' Clothes**

The walk with Ichigo was filled with a lot of bickering, shouting and kicking (on Rukia's part).

"Damn it, I'm gonna have so many bruises!"

"That's your own fault, not mine! You're the one who can't keep his mouth shut."

The headphone still in her ear, Rukia was walking next to her "guide", who was keeping a few feet distance.

"Can't keep my mouth shut? You hit me every time I say something!"

Rukia kept looking around. This town was so different compared to what she was used to.

"That's because you keep insulting me. If you stop, I'll stop too."

A snort was all that was heard from the boy next to her. The next few minutes they walked in silence. But it was short lived.

"Oi, Ichigo!"

A voice came from somewhere. Rukia and Ichigo both faced forward and saw two figures walking towards them. After they came closer Rukia noticed they were both girls… but almost completely different.

One, the one who called out to Ichigo, was with short black hair, really short like a boy style haircut but Rukia though it suited her. She was wearing dark blue knee-length pants and a white t-shirt, caring a big bag on her shoulder.

The other girl was wearing a long pinkish skirt and a dark greenish blouse with colorful dots on it – a strange combination by Rukia's standards. Her hair was dark, dirty orange, so different from Ichigo's. His hair was so vibrant… and sunny… but hers was… nothing alike.

The dark-haired girl was looking at Rukia as they stopped in front of them. Then she turned to Ichigo, raised her eyebrow and her smile turned into a smirk.

"Ichigo, what kind of lie did you come up with to make such a pretty girl to go out with you? Don't tell me you promised her to take her to your hairdresser?"

Rukia observed how the girl's smirk grew bigger as Ichigo narrowed his eyes.

"Good to see you too, Tatsuki." He growled. "Rukia, this real comedian here is Tatsuki. She's an old friend of mine." He nodded towards the still smirking girl. "And this is Inoue. Guys, this is Rukia."

Rukia finally looked at the other girl. She had a strange expression on her face but the dark-haired girl wasn't sure what it was. She was avoiding meeting Rukia's eyes and was glancing shyly at Ichigo. The girl looked uncertain and when she noticed that Rukia was watching her, she looked at her feet.

"Hey, nice to meet you! I'm Arisawa Tatsuki!" Rukia's attention was back at the black-haired girl.

"Kuchiki Rukia." She curved her mouth in a slight smile and then looked at the long-haired girl waiting for her introduction.

"Oh, oh! My name is Inoue Orihime. Nice to meet you… Kuchiki-san."

"So where are you two headed?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm going training. There's a match coming up soon." Tatsuki shrugged the shoulder with the sack on.

"And I'm going with her. And maybe after that we can go buys food and I can make something–"

"Okay. We should go now, I don't want to be late!" Tatsuki was now dragging Inoue away with her. "Careful with the hair-dresser, Rukia!" she smirked at Ichigo, "I can call you that, right?"

"Sure thing." Rukia glanced at the boy next to her and couldn't help the little smirk coming on her face.

"Same goes for you. See you guys around." Tatsuki walked away dragging the still talking Inoue away.

There were a few moments of silence – for Ichigo to try and relax his face even a little and for Rukia to enjoy the situation.

"Are you gonna stay like that all day? I thought you were going to show me around!" her voice finally shook him back to reality and he turned to continue the walk.

"Alright, come on." He placed his arms in his pockets.

Rukia walked next to him.

"So… you really go to a hair-dresser or you use lawn mower for that orange grass on your hair?"

Ichigo snapped his head at her and saw the grin on her face.

"Why you little…" he took his hands out of his pants.

Suddenly Rukia bolted away in front of him and when she was at a distance enough she turned and walked backwards:

"Does it change color when it gets wet? Green maybe?"

Ichigo's face scrunched up and he quickened his pace while growling dangerously:

"That's it!"

The said girl only laughed in response.

"Oi! Where are you going? You don't even know this place?"

"Away from you, grassy-boy!" she laughed again.

"Rukia!" now he was angry.

# # # # # #

"Daddy, don't put your feet on the table! We have guests! It's not polite!" Yuzu's voice took her dad's eyes off of the TV and onto her.

"My dear, angel! She has such good manners!" his voice was cheerful as always and his feet were on the ground immediately.

"Unlike her father obviously." Byakuya's comment earned a snicker from the older twin who was sitting next to them on the couch.

"Ahh, that was mean!" Isshin tried to pout but managed only to make a weird looking face.

"It's also true! Now shut up and let us watch TV!" and like that Karin and Byakuya continues watching while Isshin was sobbing and talking about people hating him.

"Now, now, Isshin-san, no need to be so gloomy. Me and Yuzu will cook something yummy and you'll cheer up, right?" Hisana smiled kindly at the man.

"Ohhh, Hisana! I'm so happy you came! You think so much about me!" and in an instant he was up with arms spread wide ready to hug the smiling women before a strong hand abruptly pulled him down.

"Don't even think about it." Without even looking at him, Byakuya's cold voice was enough to make the room quiet, only the sounds from the TV disturbing the uncomfortable silence.

# # # # # #

"We're here." Ichigo said.

Rukia lifted her head to read the sign on the little restaurant-bar-shop building.

"Urahara's?" she questioned.

"Yep! This is the place I told you about. We're gonna eat here come on!" Ichigo went to the door, opened it and held it for Rukia.

She glanced at the sign again and entered Ichigo right behind her.

"Yoruichi! We have customers!" a voice came out from somewhere.

Then a tall light-skinned man with messy, light-blond colored hair with eyes shadowed by his bucket hat appeared. He was wearing traditional Japanese wooden sandals and also dark green pants with matching dark green shirt and a dark greyish-green coat, having large white diamond patterns along its bottom half. He came from behind the bar and was now almost in front of them.

"Oh, it's just you Kurosaki-san." Rukia might have thought he was sad if it wasn't for his tone. "Oh, but you brought someone with you?" the man's eyes were now and Rukia and he was studying her from top to bottom.

Rukia never liked when people did that, it made her feel uncomfortable. She decided not to look at him and instead looked at the floor. His sandals resonated his steps before he stopped right in front of the two.

"Well, well, did Kurosaki-san finally found a girlfriend? I must say she's really pretty!"

"Wha– Shut up, you old pervert! It's not like that!" Ichigo yelled his face growing redder by the second.

Rukia was trying to control her blush as the man ignored Ichigo and bowed to her.

"It's nice to meet, my dear lady! My name is Urahara Kisuke and I'm at your service."

He reached for her hand next and kissed it. But before Rukia could react in any way, except the blush on her face, Urahara winced in pain and released her hand to rub his head in pain.

"Stop harassing the poor girl, Kisuke!"

A dark-skinned woman with golden-colored eyes and long purple hair up in a ponytail had appeared right next to the man in front of Ichigo and Rukia. She was wearing black stretch pants and a black sleeveless undershirt. Rukia liked her appearance – she looked independent, strong and had a playful smile on her face. Rukia also had to admit she looked… well… really _hot_ in those clothes. Her body was built very well and the outfit was just like made for her.

"Sorry about that, he's like that sometimes. Nice to meet ya'! I'm Yoruichi."

"Kuchiki Rukia, it's nice to meet you Yoruichi-san…" looking at the man with the hat, "Urahara-san."

Suddenly the blond man dropped his hand from his head and looked at her again.

"Kuchiki? Your name is Kuchiki?"

Rukia only nodded.

"Do you happen to be related in any way to a certain Kuchiki Byakuya?" was his next question and now both he and Yoruichi had serious expressions on their faces.

But Rukia knew better than to show her disturbance by their eyes, she _was_ a Kuchiki after all.

"Yes, actually, I am. He is my brother."

"So little *** though he could go around without telling us this? Ahh, he's as bad as always!" Yoruichi said with that playful smile on her face again.

"You know my brother?" now Rukia couldn't hide her surprise or more likely didn't care about if they saw it or not.

"Oh yes, we do. We actually know him pretty well!" Yoruichi grinned at her. "Does he still act like he has a stick up his ass?"

"EH?" was the only thing Rukia could say but looking at the woman's face she felt a little relaxed, "Well…" but still couldn't finish her thought.

"It's okay! We won't tell anyone! You don't need to worry!" Yoruichi assured her, her smile never fading.

"Oh yes, we wouldn't!" Urahara added, an interested expression on his face.

"Well…" Rukia began again, "You can say that."

"Ha! Knew it!" Yoruichi had suddenly clapped her hands, "That man will never change! Poor Hisana."

"You know my sister, too?"

"_This is getting really weird!" _Rukia thought to herself. _"I just met these people and they seem to know Nii-sama very well and also know about Hisana? Just who are they?"_

"Oh, we've heard about her… and met at an occasion or two." Yoruichi said simply while Urahara just nodded and fanned himself with a fan which Rukia didn't even see him take out. "Now, you must be here to eat, not to talk about stuff like that! Why don't you go sit on a table and we'll bring you something?"

"Oh, that's right. Come on, come on!" Urahara turned around and started to push lightly Yoruichi in the direction of the bar, "The usual, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo was still surprised at the conversation he just heard and couldn't reply right away when he heard his name.

"Ah… yes! The usual." He then looked at Rukia and added, "Come on, let's sit on a table." Figuring out what she wanted to say before she could muster even a single sound, he told her, "You're not going to get anything out of them when they're acting that way. So let's just eat, okay?"

Rukia stared at him for a few moments before glancing at the door behind the bar, through which the two people had disappeared, and sighed.

"Okay, let's eat."

They sat on a table for two near a window and only had to wait for a few seconds before a little girl with black hair, parted down the middle, with two strands of her bangs in the middle of her face came to them with two plates in her hands.

She placed one in front of Rukia, who nodded at her, and the other in front of Ichigo.

"Thanks, Ururu. And could you bring–"

"It's too early for drinking, Ichigo!" Yoruichi's voice sang from somewhere in the building.

"Shut up, I know that!" Ichigo snapped, "I want a… coke and… Rukia?"

"A coke would be fine."

"Then two cokes."

Ururu nodded and left without saying a word.

"You drink?" Rukia couldn't help but ask.

"Only beer. Why am I not allowed to?" Ichigo questioned her, his tone really stern.

"Not really." Rukia rolled her eyes and looked at her dish.

There laid a yummy looking sandwich. It wasn't really like the fast-food ones. It actually had a lot of good looking vegies and wasn't swimming in fat. In between two pieces of a crusty baguette were placed from bottom to top: lettuce, tomatoes, some kind of meet Rukia didn't recognize, onions and cucumbers.

"Here are the drinks." The girl had appeared again and she placed two glasses in front the two occupants of the table.

"Thanks." Rukia said and nodded again.

"Thanks, Ururu." Ichigo thanked again and with that the girl left again.

Rukia now noticed that they were all alone in the restaurant. No one was there besides them and the people who she just met and they probably owned the place or worked here.

"I hope you like it, they make great sandwiches." Ichigo's voice brought her attention back to him and this time it was softer.

She didn't say anything, just looked at him and Ichigo felt a little uncomfortable with that so he lowered his head to the food in front of him and added:

"We should start eating before it gets cold."

"Oh." Rukia looked at her sandwich and nodded, "We should." She then proceeded to take out the onions from the food.

"You don't like onions?"

"No, never had and probably never will."

"They are good for you, you know."

"I know but that's not enough to make me like the taste." She was done with removing them and looked at Ichigo shaking her head.

He only laughed:

"Might help you growing a bit."

And that earned him a kick under the table.

"Ouch! Okay! I get it!" but that smirk was on his face again.

"Looks like you ate a lot since you're such a giant." She glared at him.

"Actually I'm not, didn't I tell you that before? I'm normal height, unlike someone else." His smirk was growing… but not for long.

That comment earned him another kick.

"Okay, okay!" one of his hands was reaching under the table now most likely rubbing his leg, "Let's just eat, okay?"

"Fine." Rukia huffed.

Neither of them noticed Yoruichi and Urahara peeking at them from the door behind the bar.

There was silence while ate but it didn't look like either of them cared. They felt comfortable.

Ichigo finished first and he just looked at Rukia after that, examining her. She ate with such grace, well with as much grace as you could when you ate a sandwich. She whipped her mouth after every bight – even though it was clean – and would chew slowly, occasionally taking small sips of her drink.

A thought suddenly came to Ichigo's mind.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." She looked up to him, whipping her mouth one last time as she was now finished with her food.

"You said Hisana-san is your sister?" she nodded in response, "And Byakuya is your brother?" another nod, "And they are married?" a third one, "How's that even possible?" his voice was no longer quiet and calm as before.

"It's simple really. Byakuya and I aren't blood related. He adopted me after he married Hisana so I could live with them legitimately." She said simply as if it was normal.

"I see… that explains it…" was the only thing she got from the boy. "Well, I guess we should be going."

"We probably should."

Ichigo got up from his place and walked to the bar, taking his wallet from his pocket. Seeing that Rukia said she would pay for her food and she was about to take some bills from her phone holder – she kept some money there if she ever forgot her wallet – but Ichigo said it was his treat. She insisted but in the end the orange-head finally paid.

"Come on, we spent most of the day out. We should go back and rest. And it probably would've been better if we didn't eat such big sandwiches." Ichigo said as he joined her and they started to walk towards the door.

"Why not?" Rukia questioned.

"Well, Yuzu has probably cooked something since she's really excited about having guests and she doesn't take "no" for and answer when it comes to food." He explained.

"Oh, I see."

"Bye Rukia-chan, Ichigo!" two voices said from behind and when the teens turned their heads, they saw a smiling Yoruichi and Urahara waving at them.

They waved back and Ichigo opened the door, holding it for Rukia. As he about to go out himself, Yoruichi spoke again:

"Donn't forget to bring your girlfriend back again sometime. We would love to see her again and talk!" She winked at him. "And be gentle!"

"YORUICHI! SHUT UP!" Ichigo yelled and slammed the door as he exited not wanting to hear anything more.

His face was red and Rukia had heard what the woman said so she decided not to comment and just started walking, a blush on her face, _again!_

"Stupid Yoruichi… always saying… and that pervert Urahara…" She heard the boy next to her mumbling. "Come on let's go!"

* * *

**A/N:**_ Ahh! I finished it!  
_

_I really wanted to update sooner but I had to work on an amv for a contest!_

_Would you guys like to see it? Here's a link: (just remove the spaces in the beginning!_

http :/ / arinaamvmakers .ning .com /video/here-without-you-ichiruki

_Please, tell me what you think!  
Personally I wanted to make it better but there was a stupid time limit and I haven't been able to finish any amvs lately…_

_Anyways enough of this, my neck hurts!_

_Thanks for the reviews and the favs and to the people who only faved, please review, it doesn't take that long and how am I supposed to know you like when I don't check my email often?_

_Tell me what you think about the chapter. I really didn't know what to do with the Inoue part and her introduction so I cut it short._

_**Question: Who do you think will make a good rival to Ichigo for Rukia? (in a fic, who would you prefer?)**_

_**A: Renji**_

_**B: Hisagi**_

_**C: Kaien**_

_**D: your choice**_

_**And who would make a good friend for Ichigo? (probably again fighting for Rukia XD**_

_09.07. – 17.07.2010_

_SakuraNoKaze_


	7. The Pink bluish purple Cloud

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**S****ixth Chapter: The Pink-bluish-purple Cloud**

Time seemed to move fast for the next month and a half. Now it seemed like it wasn't such a long time that the Kuchiki's spent with the Kurosaki's. The summer had already started, at least by the summer solstice and not all the other calendars Rukia had recently found about. The younger Kurosakis were in a summer holiday now. Rukia finished the school year at the house. It was too late to get enrolled to school and she was used to doing things by herself so she didn't complain, actually she liked it.

It was really easy to get used to living with the Kurosaki family – you just had to ignore most or maybe all of Isshin's comments and everything else was easy. Yuzu was always happy and ready to help, she had a so-called mother complex and it was really intriguing how mature she was for her age, Karin was a total opposite to her sister. It's like she wasn't mature, she was, but her character wasn't as cheerful as her sister's was. Karin was tougher and never missed an occasion to hit her father when he was overdoing.

And thus comes the time for the oldest of the Kurosaki's children – Kurosaki Ichigo, the stubborn over-grown strawberry giant that always liked to pester Rukia, especially about her height. The girl noticed that it was always better to answer his insults with her own and she actually really enjoyed making him mad. They no longer shared the same room. Byakuya was really cold towards him – not that he's not to others – and refused to let Rukia sleep in a room with a delinquent-looking boy. It really would've been better if she slept in his bed, because she found it incredibly comfortable but sharing a room with the twins was a lot of fun.

Their room was really nice and it was obviously divided into two… or something like that. But you could definitely guess which part was Yuzu's and which Karin's. The orange-head girl's side was really tidy and really… well girly. Her bed sheets were pink and orange with flowers on them and she had a lot of plush toys on top of the bed, it was really like a sea of toys.

Karin's side was way more boyish. Her bed was almost never made – only when Yuzu had the time to or when she changed the sheets – and her clothes were all over it and the floor. A soccer ball was always next to the bed when she was at home and a red cap on the bed stand.

Rukia really got used to living like that and enjoyed every day with the Kurosaki family.

But all good things come to an end sooner or later…

"Come on, Rukia! Byakuya is waiting for us outside!" Hisana's voice came from the first floor.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Just making sure I don't forget anything!" Rukia looked on more time around the room she had slept in for the last month and a half.

After not finding anything of hers in it she grabbed her bag and made sure her phone and head-phones were in her pocket and she went down to her sister.

"I'm ready!" she announced as she went into the hallway.

The occupants in the room all looked at her with different expressions on their faces. Isshin and Yuzu were with teary eyes and they were holding each other's hands. Ichigo and Karin on the other side weren't on the verge of crying but they definitely weren't happy either. Karin looked gloomy and, if Rukia wasn't mistaken, so was Ichigo.

The only smiling person was Hisana.

"Come on, sweetie! We should hurry! We have a lot of stuff to do!" she said and turned towards Isshin, "Isshin-san, thank you again for everything you've done!"

"Hisana-san!" the man hugged Rukia's sister into a tight hug sobbing all the time, "We'll miss you so much!"

"Dad, let her breathe! And it's not like we're not gonna see them again!" Karin said, ready to kick her father.

"But it's not the same, Karin-chan!" the man continued sobbing while releasing Hisana and looking at his daughter, "They won't be here when we wake up every morning, we won't have breakfast together, we won't talk before going to bed…"

"We will do that again, I promise!" Hisana interrupted him and smiled with now teary eyes, "It's just like Karin-chan said, we're going to see each other again."

"That's right, daddy! We shouldn't be sad!" Yuzu added but to Rukia it was obvious that she wanted to cry along with Isshin.

"My child is so smart and mature! Oh Yuzu, daddy loves y–" but before he could embrace her, Karin had finally done what she wanted to do since she saw him crying.

"Shut up, dad! You'll make them wait and Byakuya-san will get mad!" she barked.

"He's always mad!" Isshin shot back.

"Enough already, you're acting like a baby." And it seemed that worked.

Isshin now regarded his son with an expression mixed with disbelief, sadness and… was that… _anger?_

"_Why would he be angry with Ichigo? He's right, this is childish."_ Rukia thought but as always kept it to herself.

"But son, I didn't expect that from you! What if some boy tries to steal her from of–" and Isshin was cut off _again_ but this time by his oldest child.

"Shut up, you old pervert! That's all you've been saying!" Ichigo yelled while Rukia looked away, pretending she didn't hear what the man had said.

"As much as I would love to continue this, we should really go." Hisana said and continued with the goodbyes. "Yuzu-chan, we shall cook again sometimes, right?"

Hisana moved next to Yuzu, smiled kindly and spread her hands for a hug, a hug Yuzu returned immediately.

"Yes! I'd love that!"

In the meantime Isshin had recovered from the second hit he got and was hugging Rukia or more like crushing her.

"Rukia-chan! My sweet third daughter, I'll miss you so much! Please, don't forget about us!" he straightened up which naturally led to Rukia being lifted, her legs hanging in the air. "If you ever need someone to talk to, daddy is always here! You can count on me for everything!" Isshin, still sobbing, was oblivious to Rukia's little hands tapping him on the back in order to be let go.

"She won't be able to come over if you suffocate her!"

Ichigo detached his father from a gasping Rukia, just as Hisana stood next to him, ready to say "bye".

"Goodbye, Kurosaki-kun. Come visit us." The women hugged him.

"I will."

"I'm happy to hear that." Moving away and heading for the door she added, "Come on Rukia, finish saying goodbye and let's go! Byakuya is probably really mad right now."

"Okay! Meet you outside!"

And Hisana was out the door with a final wave.

The only person left to say goodbye to was Ichigo. Rukia came closer to him and lifted her head to look at his face. They eyes met and small smiles appeared.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Rukia started first.

"Yeah… I guess so…" he cocked his head to the side.

They didn't notice that the rest of the family had went outside and were waving their hands.

"I should probably go. Nii-sama has been waiting for a while…"

"Yeah, you should."

Ichigo was looking at the girl in front of him. Suddenly I smirk made its way on his face.

"What?" Rukia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"Nothing. I was just thinking how good it will be not having a little midget bugging you every five seconds.

The next thing Ichigo knew, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.

"Oh! Damn it, Rukia!" he bent down and rubbed his shin.

Rukia only huffed before she put her shoes on and started for the door.

"Just when I thought you could act nice for once and you immediately prove me wrong!"

She was soon outside and passed the twins and their dad with a smile on her face.

"Bye, bye, Rukia-chan! I hope you like your new house!" Yuzu called after her with teary eyes.

"Bye, Yuzu-chan, Karin-chan, Kurosaki-san! Again, thanks for everything!" Rukia waved back.

"Anytime!" they said back in unison.

"Oi! What about me? You're only saying bye and thanks to them! Don't I deserve something too?" Ichigo came from inside the house, limping slightly and glared at Rukia.

"No! I don't have anything to say to a stupid immature strawberry idiot like you!" the raven-haired girl glared back.

"Stupid, strawberry, idiot? Now who's immature?" the smirk was back on his face and that made Rukia even more angry.

"You are!" she yelled and walked towards her brother and sister who were still waiting. Hisana had a smile on her face as she looked from Rukia to Ichigo. No one noticed that Isshin had the same expression as well.

Byakuya on the other side had his emotionless face on as usual and he was watching Ichigo, there's was something cold – colder than usual – in the look he was giving the boy. As Rukia reached them, Byakuya turned his gaze on her and said:

"It is not lady-like to yell like that on the street, Rukia. Refrain yourself from doing that."

"I apologize, Nii-sama. It won't happen again." Rukia said and fixed her eyes on the road, her head low.

"Ahh, don't be so mean, Byakuya! Let her have fun!" Hisana told her husband.

"Let's go. We've wasted enough time talking." The man ignored his wife's request and started walking.

"Ah, so that's how it's going to be? Okay, we'll see about that!" Hisana said quietly so only she and Rukia heard.

The younger girl watched as what-looked-like an evil smile appeared on her sister's face.

"Hisana?" the girl asked inching towards her sister.

"Come on, sweetie! We have a lot of stuff to do!" the woman said as she started walking after her husband.

Rukia decided not to ask anything and turned her head around before taking any steps. She glanced one final time at the Kurosakis from over her right shoulder. The left side of her mouth tugged up in a sad smile as she waved her hand again at the family which was still in front of the door, looking at her.

"_So this is another house we leave. I guess some things never change." _With that thought she turned her head forward again and rushed to reach her siblings. Once she did, she took out her head-phones ready to listen to some music until she noticed that one of the ear pieces was missing its light blue cover.

"_Great! And it was blue!" _she pouted and placed only the covered head-phone in her right ear.

"_Nobody knows who I really am,_

_I never felt this empty before,_

_And if I ever need someone to come __along, _

_Who's gonna comfort me and keep me strong?"_

# # # # # #

"We're here."

Rukia lifted her eyes and saw Byakuya and Hisana standing in front of a house. It was a little larger than the Kurosaki home but it was small compared to what they used to live in before coming to Karakura. The house had two floors and was painted in a nice peach puff color and a garage on the right, same color with a white garage door. Byakuya's car – a Mercedes Benz S-Class S500 – was parked in front of it. The vehicle – with a mystic blue paintwork and on the inside a champagne white piano lacquer trim with exclusive porcelain aniline leather seats – was squeaky clean _as always_.

Everywhere else – except the path that led to the front door and the one for the garage – was covered in low cut deep green grass. On both sides of the main entrance, near the walls of the house, were left spots for flower gardens and some more behind the white fence circling the building. It was definitely Byakuya's doing. He knew Hisana loved flowers and loved to take care of them. Rukia also liked to design the gardens and she had some favorite flowers she like to put in them and of course someone had to stop her sister from making a flower jungle in the yard – that was a job Rukia just had to take.

"Oh! I love it! Don't you love it, Rukia?" Hisana interrupted her thoughts as she started talking, not waiting for an answer, "Look at the color! It's so warm and fresh! And look, there's space for flowers! And a garage! Oh, it's lovely!"

"Hisana, there is really no need for a behavior like this, especially outside. Let's go in." Byakuya was now heading for the door but Rukia sensed the content in his tone.

"Come on, sweetie! Let's see how it is on the inside! You can choose your room!"

"It's already done in the way she wanted it. Did you forget we arranged that too, Hisana?" Byakuya asked his wife.

"Oh, that's right… so let's go see then!" she cheered.

Rukia watched as the couple reached the door and entered. She then took the whole house into view and let out a sigh.

"New house, new home… When will it stop being always _'new'?"_

"Rukiaaa! Come on in!" her sister head was peaking from the door.

"Coming."

# # # # # #

The house was also nice on the inside – walls painted in nice warm colors, some covered with wallpapers, the floors were spotless, with beautiful carpets on some of them and the expensive furniture, paintings and all other decorations. It wasn't like you were moving into a new place and had to order everything, it was already done for you and because it was Byakuya's doing it was simple, elegant and stylish. Rukia had nothing against it and even if she did, she wasn't going to say anything as long as her room was left to herself and her way of doing things.

"I'm going to my room." She announced and headed for the stairs.

"Do you know which one it is?" her sister took a moment off of the exploration of the house.

"I believe so. My door should be quite recognizable, shouldn't it?" and with that the young girl went upstairs.

True, it was really easy to find out which room was hers. She had a colorful little flower made with glass paint "glued" to her door. She would put other things on different occasions too.

Rukia entered her room and was welcomed by a light purple and bluish colored room. The walls were light blue merging with light purple. It was a nice sight and it made the room look mystic, words could hardly describe it and it sure wasn't easy to understand just hearing about it.

On the floor there was a soft purple carpet and the windows – which were quite big – had also thick purple curtains and underneath them thin blue ones with – what Rukia recognized as – little butterflies on.

A king sized bed was on one side of the room, the headboard next to the wall. The bed sheets were a mix of pink, blue and purple. The bed reminded Rukia of the clouds up in the sky; it looked so soft and inviting. She remembered that when she was a child she always dreamed of flying in the skies and laying in the soft fluffy clouds, she used to ask what would happen if she did…

"_Maybe someday soon, I'll know for sure…"_

She shook her head and looked around the room again. There was a bed stand on one side of the bed, a desk with her computer and stuff near another wall and a wardrobe with her bags of clothes in front of it. She had asked Byakuya not to arrange anything else in the room. She wanted to put her clothes the way she wanted; posters and pictures were placed on the desk waiting for the girl to hang them on the walls. The only thing he did was put her favorite plush toys on the soft covers of the bed.

Rukia let out a deep sigh and threw herself upon her new soft "pink-bluish-purple" cloud and closed her eyes for a few moments before opening them and staring at the sealing. She lay like that until the music from her phone died down – it was probably only minutes – and she heard her message melody. Sighing again, she reached for her phone and opened the transparent keypad and watched as the sender's name was displayed – Strawberry. Rukia touched the "view" button on the screen and it showed the message:

"_**How's the house?"**_

She pressed "reply" and typed her message.

"_Like a normal house would look like after Byakuya had his way with it. But at least my room is untouched… sort of. "_

She didn't have to wait long.

_**"So it's not that bad, huh? By the way my dad has invited you to a picnic this weekend. Your sister already agreed."**_

_"So I guess I don't really have a choice, do I? But I'm looking forward to your sister's cooking."_

_**"So I'll see you there then?"**_

_"Yeah, sure thing. See you there."_

And with that she rested the hand which held the phone next to her and stared at the sealing again before curling into a ball and hugging her plushies.

_"When did this happen?" _she thought.

Suddenly a pain shoot through her body and it became hard to breathe.

_"What was I thinking? This is impossible…" _

And with that thought her world went black.

* * *

_** A/N: **__So, this is probably my fastest update! ^_^ Only a week!_

_ I had some trouble ending this chapter and it got really late, it\s 3:32 am and I'm going to bed as soon as I publish this. My initial idea is different from where this story is going and I thinking if I should continue it that way…_

_ Anyways thanks for all the reviews and I'm sorry if I didn't answer all of them, I'm probably gonna do it here from now on so I'll be sure I answered all. Thanks again and sorry if I didn't answer to everyone._

_ I've got another question for you:_

_**Which girl would you choose for Rukia's best friend?**_

_You pick!_

_Btw here's the link to the amv again, 'cause I don't think it worked the last time: (remove the double "__http:")_

_http:/ .com/watch?v=C_F6bYfZqTY_

_ 17.08 – 24.08.2010_

_ SakuraNoKaze_


	8. Gazing at the Stars

**A Heart's Melody**

**Summary:** How does death change our lives? What do we live for? How strong are  
the human's heart and soul? A young girl will try to find the answers to  
those questions but she's gonna need a little help, especially from a boy  
who'll turn her life around.

* * *

**Seventh Chapter: Gazing at the Stars**

The next time Rukia opened her eyes, she was in her new room, in her bed, but she was no longer curled into a ball and a soft sheet was atop of her.

She felt something cold on her forehead and blinked her eyes a few times trying to clear out her view. It took her a few seconds for her mind to start working properly again.

Rukia saw her sister's from on her left. She was sitting on a chair and smiling. One of her hands came towards Rukia's face and the younger sister felt something heavy being lifted from her forehead. She groaned slightly and gulped. A pain suddenly shot through her throat and she started coughing and rasping for breath.

"Careful, sweetie, careful!" a cup filled with hot liquid came near her mouth, "Here, drink this, it'll help. Careful, though, it's hot!"

Hisana helped her sister sit a little in the bed and let her take a sip from the cup.

The hot liquid immediately burned her mouth but when she gulped and it reached her throat the effect was soothing. Instead of burning her like it always happens when you drink something hot, it only made her feel better – her throat softened and she took a few more sips, every single one relaxing her more and more.

"Slowly, honey. I know it helps but try not to drink too fast. I don't want you to choke on it; you know how bad it is." Hisana was whispering to her sister.

Soon half of the cup was gone and Rukia drew back to take a few breathes.

"How is it?"

Rukia gulped cautiously and only nodded to her sister.

"Here drink this too." Hisana reached to the bed stand and when she returned her hand there was a while pill in it.

Rukia gulped again and winced when she felt more pain.

"What is that for?" she asked, her voice barely over a whisper.

"You had a fever and still do, but it's not as bad as before. Drink this. You'll feel better and your head won't hurt."

Rukia nodded and took the pill from her sister's hand. Placing it in her mouth, she reached for the cup and drank more. The taste of the pill was bitter but mixed with the burning and soothing effect of the liquid, it wasn't such a big problem. There was something different about its taste though, the usual light bitterness was missing. Instead it had a mild sweet flavor.

"What is this? It's different." She asked after retracting the cup again to breathe.

"Oh, so you noticed! I wondered if you would." Hisana's smile got wider. "I put a little homey in it since it's healthful. I thought it wouldn't be of any harm and it could be mixed with the tea." her smile disappeared and she hesitantly looked from her sister to the cup and back.

"Yes, it's… nice. Better than before." she smiled, "Thank you."

"Anytime, sweetie, I'm glad you like it." and the smile was back. "Come on, drink this too and then lay down. I'll put the cloth back on your head."

Rukia remembered the weight on her forehead and realized it probably was the cloth. She took the cup and drowned its remainders.

"Come on, lay down. Sleep a little more. I'll bring you food later or if you're hungry even now?"

"No, that's okay, I'm not hungry. I think I'll just listen to some music and read."

"Oh, no! You're not putting those things in your ears! That music blasting will only bring you a headache and you should leave your brain to rest a little, don't torment it with reading." the older sister was now frowning.

"You're probably the only person who's telling her sister not to read." Rukia laughed lightly because of the still noticeable pain. "Reading books is a good thing you know?"

"Don't joke with me, little missy! You're going to rest and that's that!" Hisana raised herself from the chair and looked at the girl in the bed sternly.

"Aye, aye, captain!" Rukia tried to hide her smile.

"Rukia!" Hisana wined.

"Okay, okay, I won't read. I'll rest! Happy now?" Rukia raised her eyebrows at her sister and looked at her gentle.

"Yes! Come on, lay down." Hisana helped her and placed her hand on Rukia's forehead. "You seam better now. I won't put the cloth on but I'll wipe the sweat of your face."

"Okay, thank you." She rested her head on the comfy pillow and let her sister wash her face.

"There. All better, now sleep." Hisana kissed her forehead and fixed the blanked over the young girl. "Call me if you need anything."

Rukia only nodded, her eyes getting heavy all of a sudden. Hisana glanced at her one last time and exited the room. Upon hearing the door closing she stirred in the bed to get a little more comfortable and reached out to find her phone.

Luckily it was still on the bed next to her like she remembered before she lost consciousness. She was glad neither her sister nor her brother had taken it away. No matter what they said, music always managed to help her feel better.

"Sorry Hisana." she murmured and put the headphones in her ears.

After a little search she pressed the play button and her little LG Crystal started playing – _Across the Stars._

_"There, something relaxing and in the same time emotional, just what I need and it's not going to make my head hurt since it's gentle. Everyone's happy!" _Rukia thought as she smiled lightly and closed her eyes.

It had just been a few days since Rukia and her family had moved out and Ichigo had had more spare time to think. He would usually spend his days out, doing nothing in particular or hanging out with his friends – getting in trouble whenever Keigo was around. The guy had been his friend for years – friend was one way to name it. Keigo was always around and had the stupidest and craziest ideas, which always ended bad and usually it was Ichigo's job to bail him out. And that's the reason why he always got blamed for everything and had himself a rather _rebellion boy_ reputation. But Ichigo never really cared what people thought about him so it didn't bother him at all what others were saying about him. He was just being a good friend and that's all that mattered to him.

But things had been different for the past month and a half. He hadn't gotten in much trouble and he was actually spending a lot of time at home – all because of a certain raven-haired girl. Since Rukia had moved to live with his family Ichigo had changed his daily routine – he got home right after school and even when he was ready with the homework he still didn't go wonder around in the streets. He had a new hobby and it involved the short girl who lived with him.

Ichigo really enjoyed her company and he just loved to annoy her. There was something about that pouty face she made that he couldn't resist himself every time he saw her. And the best way to annoy her was to say something about her height. Rukia seemed to be really irritated when someone made a comment about that and the orange head boy never missed a good chance. But it never ended good… for him anyway. He had received numerous of kicks and hits which resulted into bruises not that they weren't worth it… oh, they were, how much they were… But there was something else – aside from the teasing – that he enjoyed in her company and that was the understanding. He found it easy to talk to her, to tell her stuff – whether it was about how his day had gone or about his emotions – it was always nice to talk to her. He wasn't really the one to share but when it was Rukia it was different – he felt different around her.

He remembered a certain morning, the first one of the summer holiday. Yuzu and Hisana had made a special dinner – both Ichigo and Rukia had passed with really pleasing grades – for the teenagers. After all the food had been devoured everybody talked, joked and laughed together. A few hours later Yuzu and Karin had gone to bed because they were tired and that left Rukia and Ichigo alone with the adults. All was well before Isshin suggested they drank something and he and Hisana had a really good treat – Byakuya had refused even after all of his wife's convictions. Soon the _slightly_ drunk grown ups started with their annoying comments – one of them Isshin's wish for grandchildren and Hisana's for nephews so the teenagers decided to leave the room and go upstairs.

"Don't be too loud now! Yuzu and Karin are probably sleeping already." Isshin's voice came from behind them.

"Shut up dad!" Ichigo barked.

"Aw, look how red they are! So cute!" this time it was a woman's voice.

"Hisana!" Rukia warned but all that got her were giggles from both her sister and Isshin.

"No more alcohol for you, Hisana." Byakuya suddenly came into the conversation and Ichigo and Rukia used that moment to escape.

Once they were on the second floor, Rukia made her way towards Ichigo's room but was stopped when he said:

"Hey… I wanna show you something."

Rukia looked at him puzzled but nodded.

"Come on." and he let her to a door.

They entered and Rukia noticed that it was a closet – a really small closed, filled with loads of different objects. She was looking around when she saw Ichigo stopping in front of a ladder. She was about to ask him when she perceived a small wooden square door in the ceiling.

"Come on, follow me." that was all Ichigo said before he climbed up and unlocked the padlock.

"Where are you… going?" she finished in a whisper as Ichigo disappeared through the small hole in the ceiling.

"Rukia! Are you coming or not?" his voice came after a few seconds.

"Ah, coming! But where are you taking me?" she neared the ladder and held it.

"You'll see! Now come on!" Ichigo was becoming impatient.

"Alright, alright!" Rukia started climbing up.

When she was at the top Ichigo extended his hand and helped her come up.

Once she stood next to him, Rukia felt like her breath was taken away.

They were on the roof of the Kurosaki house. Flickering lights from the houses around and the few passing cars were visible but that wasn't the reason why Rukia was left breathless.

The sky, the clear summer sky was covered in countless white dots twinkling like diamonds in a deep dark ocean of clouds.

"The stars… this… this is…" Rukia had no words for it. "I… this is magnificent." She finally said.

"Yeah… magnificent." Ichigo breathed next to her.

That was when Rukia tore her gaze from the sky above her and faced at Ichigo who was turned towards her. She froze all over when his eyes met hers. Rukia realized that the entire time she was looking at the stars, Ichigo was watching her.

Her breath was taken away a second time from the force of Ichigo's fiery gaze.

Rukia couldn't move, she couldn't even look away. There was something that was drawing her toward Ichigo and she was helpless against it.

What happened next was like in slow motion.

Ichigo's body came closer to hers, their eyes never looking away. Ichigo slowly reached for her and was going to touch her if it wasn't for a passing car's horn which brought her back to reality.

Her eyes widened and she blushed before taking a few steps back and turning her back to Ichigo.

She could breathe again and she was doing it way faster than usual.

Several moments of silence passed before Ichigo cleared his throat and spoke.

"I brought you here because I wanted to show you the view." his voice was soft and low, "And since it's summer and the weather is nice, the sky is clear and you can see the stars."

"Yes, thank you." Rukia breathed out, "It's amazing."

She turned again so she and Ichigo were facing the same way and looked up.

"I love the stars." she spoke again after a little while, "I've always loved them. Hisana even bought me a book about the constellations and also the planets when I was younger. I read so much everything about them and I was so interested, still am… but…"

Ichigo gulped and asked wearily: "But?" He was careful not to push her so she might stop talking.

Rukia sighed and continued.

"You know how some people believe that when someone dies, a new star is born in the sky?"

Ichigo nodded not really sure if she noticed but relaxed when Rukia kept on talking.

"People also don't know how many stars there are in the sky, they only make theories. But if that's true then so many people have died, countless people, some probably forgotten by everyone by now. The sky is so beautiful and something so sad makes it even worse. I guess that's the reason why I can't look at the stars for a long time even though my interest in them." She lowered her gaze and stared at the street instead.

Ichigo was looking intently at Rukia. Her words were full of sadness, sadness he wanted to wash away.

"I've heard something else, you know." He finally said, fixing his gaze at the stars again.

"Huh?" upon hearing him speak, Rukia turned her head to him.

"People say that their path ends here on the earth but… how could that be when the sky was filled with so many tiny little footsteps." He let out a sigh before adding, "My mom told me that once when I was younger."

Rukia knew his mother was no longer alive and didn't want to press the matter on him. A gentle smile graced her lips as she too looked at the stars again.

"I think your mom had a point there."

Ichigo looked at her at hearing this. There was a small gentle, barely visible, smile but it was there nonetheless. He couldn't take his eyes of off her. It was not the first time he saw her smile, true, but it was one of the rare _real_ smiles she wore. But he didn't tell her. He just stood there, observing her.

A few moments passed before her smile grew bigger and she turned towards Ichigo.

"Thank you, Ichigo. For bringing me here!" her eyes were closed while she beamed at him.

All of a sudden a soft summer wind blew past them and lifted a bang of Rukia's hair in the face.

He didn't know what made him do his next actions but he later decided to blame her heartwarming smile.

Ichigo reached his hand out to brush Rukia's hair out of her face but he didn't retreat. He let his fingers linger on her soft cheek and cupped her face. His eyes were glued on hers and he couldn't look away. He heard her gasp.

Rukia didn't know what was happening. One moment she was thanking Ichigo and smiling at him and in the next he was caressing her face. The moment he touched her, Rukia lost her breath for the third time this night.

Ichigo came closer to Rukia, still holding her. Never breaking the eye contact, he leaned in until his nose touched hers.

He only hesitated for a second but when he saw she wasn't pulling away he leaned in more and closed the remaining gap between them.

The kiss was soft and the instant their lips touched, Ichigo knew that he wouldn't regret this.

Rukia's eyes widened at what was happening but she relaxed after a few second and closed her eyes. Ichigo's other hand went behind her – to her waist – and brought her closer to him, her arms resting on his chest. Ichigo titled his head to the side and deepened the kiss, Rukia doing the same.

What appeared to them as hours were only mere seconds, minutes the most.

A loud "thump" coming from beneath them made Ichigo and Rukia jump and pull away. The looked at the hole were they came from and heard muffled voices… voices that sounded like Hisana's and Byakuya's. After about a minute they heard a door close and then silence.

Ichigo and Rukia turned their eyes on each other again. They were both blushing, Rukia's face really flushed.

Ichigo opened his mouth to talk but Rukia beat him to it.

"I-I… I should go! It's late and… I'm tired."

She then hurried to the door and went down the ladder, leaving a dumbfounded Ichigo alone on the rooftop.

"Ichigo! Hey, Ichigo!"

The orange haired boy blinked a few times before he saw Tatsuki leaning down to look at him, her face really close.

"What's the matter with you? What were you thinking about so much that you spaced out like that?" she asked.

His friends were all next to him now, looking with interest and some with concern.

"Oh, nothing really. What were you saying?" he tried to brush it off.

No such luck with friends like his.

"You're thinking about her again aren't you?" Ishida questioned while he pushed his glasses further to his face with the middle finger of his hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Ichigo narrowed his eyes at his friend.

"Sure, you don't." Uruyu replied.

The rest of their friends were looking from one to the other with questioning eyes.

"Who are you talking about?" Tatsuki was the first to speak.

"Nobody." Ichigo grumbled.

"Kuchiki-san, who else?" Ishida said while straightening up.

"Rukia?" Tatsuki ignored the orange head boy.

"The one and only." Ishida answered again. "It seams the great Kurosaki Ichigo likes her. And no, I don't mean "like" in a "friends" way.

"Shut up, Ishida!" Ichigo snarled.

"What? Don't tell me it's not true?" his friend looked at him with raised eyebrows, "She's been gone for only a few days and yet all you've been thinking about is her. Why don't you go and visit her? She lives a few blocks away, it's not the other side of the world?"

Ichigo had no answer to that statement. He just sat there, prompted on the tree, looking at his friend.

After a few moments his scowl deepened and he raised himself.

"Whatever. I'm going home." he turned around and started walking away, "See you guys later."

Tatsuki called after him but was stopped after Ishida told her something which didn't reach Ichigo's ears. But it didn't really mater since he had something else on his mind.

A certain raven haired girl, standing in front of him, enveloped in his arms on the rooftop of a house with the night sky above them. Her eyes had just opened and she was looking at him. But in the next moment she was moving away.

She had ran away from him and left him all alone. That was when Ichigo realized that there was no way he would ever let her do that again. He was never letting go. _Ever._

_

* * *

_

_**A/N:**_ _So this is it for this chapter. I would have uploaded it sooner but I was thinking if I should ever continue this… still am. And I was thinking about a certain moment in it, whether to add it or not, but I decided the first._

_Some answers (sorry I'm not answering to all but it's late)_

_**Muerte-chan**__**:**__ Yes, she is and it was mentioned before. About Momo and Rangiku, I like them for friends. Thanks for answering._

_**shnizlefritz**__**: **__I mentioned before they were moving away, actually Byakuya did XD and about the illness, do you mean that it didn't show up earlier?_

_**Another question: Who do you think would work as a character with a crush on Ichigo? (It's always Inoue, so who do you like else?)**_

_** A: Senna**_

_** B: hmm your choice, can't think of anyone right now**_

_**About time to say this: I own nothing. If I did things would be waaay different!  
**_

_27.08 – 08.09.2010_

_SakuraNoKaze_


End file.
